What Jealousy?
I own nothing!
This may seem abrupt.
Tigress and Po were just cleaning up the damages brought on by Junjie's latest attack, trying to make Po marry Lu-Shi in order to be in charge of the Jade Palace. While cleaning, Po noticed that Tigress was smirking at him, leaning against the wall of one of the house with her arms crossed. "What? I mean I know I'm interesting, but you don't have to be so obvious about it, Tigress," Po jested. Tigress's smirk grew wider.
"I'm just laughing at what you said when I saved you when you were trying to save Lu-Shi's brother. Did you really think that I was jealous the entire time?"
"Of course! You know how ladies can't resist me," Po replied throwing out his arms and hands to present all of him. Tigress rolled her eyes. "And I know for a fact that you can't either."
"Resist hitting you? Yes, that is hard to resist," Tigress answered back.
"Hehe, but to be honest, it was your persistence that worried me," Po replied. Tigress's eyebrow rose. Po put down the broom he was using. There wasn't much left to be done, so they decide to take a break. Po shrugged at Tigress's obvious suspicion. "I mean, I knew you weren't really jealous. That was just me having fun. But when you started preventing me from being married, I started to get worried."
"Why?"
"I mean, I knew we were great friends, but I was just concerned that you would prevent me from having a wife. That's what worried me. It almost seemed as if you really did like me in a special way," Po smiled, wiggling his eyebrows. Tigress gave an even stare before rolling her eyes. "Anyways, that all in the past though," Po said as he was about to go back to work and as Shifu came out to see the others working again.
"But to make sure, there is nothing between us, right?" Tigress asked, to make sure everything was clear. Po looked at her for a moment. Shifu noted that he paused for a fraction longer than a normal person would. And he answered with a struggle.
"Of course, Tigress. We're just partners. AHH! I mean, not that kind of partners. I just-"
"Friends," Tigress uttered. Again, Po paused for longer than a second.
"Friends," He nodded. With that, Tigress gave her smallest smile and left the others to work out. Po went back to work, but Shifu noticed that his usual carefree smile was gone and he wasn't whistling as he normally did when he worked. He walked up to Po.
"Po?"
"AHH!" Po jumped, dropping the broom. "Master Shifu, please stop scaring me like that!"
"Sorry, and I'm sorry that things between you and Lu-Shi didn't go as previously planned."
"It's alright. Things happen," Po shrugged, continuing to sweep.
"Are you sure?" Shifu asked, noting the panda avoiding his eyes. "You're very invested in this woman. So much so that you would give up your Dragon Warrior title." Po just shrugged.
"I... I just felt a connection. It wasn't there, but I felt it," Po said. He vigorously shook his head. "Anyways, that's just one of the things of being the awesome Dragon Warrior, right? You can't let your guard down."
"This is true," Shifu agreed, about to leave him in peace, "But you can also leave it up too high." This confused the panda as the red panda simply walked away.
Later on, Shifu walked into the Training Hall to see Tigress violently hitting and smashing the dummies to pieces. "MASTER TIGRESS!" He shouted to be heard over the smashing. Tigress stopped immediately and came to attention.
"Master Shifu," She bowed.
"Is something wrong, Master Tigress?" Shifu asked, knowing that she only trained like this if she's upset.
"Nothing, Master Shifu. I'm just training," Tigress replied. She probably didn't even realize she was upset, as shown by the complete honesty in her voice. She wasn't good at lying to Shifu.
"Carry on, then. But please do be careful with the dummies. They can be very costly if we break all of them."
"Understood, master," Tigress bowed and returned to her fighting. Shifu left and went to the kitchen where he ran into Crane. The bird seemed worried, rubbing the back of his neck.
"What's the matter, Master Crane?"
"Nothing, it's just that Po's upset," Crane replied as his stomach growled, "And I'm going with the rest of the Furious Five to find something to eat." Crane left Shifu and Shifu went to the kitchen to find Po eating all of the food. When Po spotted Shifu he stopped like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
"Um... Po-"
"I know, I know. I just have to let what happened between me and Lu-Shi go," He said wiping his mouth and standing up from the mountain of food in front of him. "I'll get some food somewhere else."
"That's not what I was going to say," Shifu said, raising his hand for the panda to sit back down. Shifu took a seat next to him and ate some of the food alongside him. "I was wondering if you truly did love Lu-Shi."
"Master Shifu, I wouldn't have willingly given up the Dragon Warrior title if I wasn't," Po argued.
"Sometimes we do things because we're trying to escape from something else," Shifu pointed out.
"But give up the Dragon Warrior title?"
"If it meant having all the things in the world but you couldn't have the one thing? Probably," Shifu said. Now Po was suspicion.
"What are you getting at, Master Shifu? Are you saying that I just married Lu-Shi because I couldn't have someone else and that she was some kind of alternative?!"
"Was she?"
"NO!" Po exclaimed. "What on earth made you think that?!"
"When we came back, you weren't mad or upset. I say that because you didn't eat at your father's place. We told you that you didn't have to help clean up but you did anyway and you seemed okay."
"I'm sensing a 'but' here."
"But when you were talking with Tigress," Shifu said carefully. Po's eyes widened. "It changed. I don't know what you two were talking about, but all I heard was something about making sure there wasn't anything between you two and that you were just friends."
"W...what about it," Po stuttered. Now Shifu knew something was up.
"It seemed as if... that's what made you upset. That you were just friends," Shifu said. Po silently looked at his master with an opened mouth. Po closed his mouth, stood up, and walked around the room before ultimately sighing.
"It's not what you think."
"Po, there is no other way to interrupt it," Shifu pointed out.
"Okay, it's exactly what you think," Po groaned. "But I can explain."
"What's to explain, Po?"
"Huh?" Po said confused. Shifu looked outside of the entryway to make sure no one was around.
"You love Tigress." Po was about to protest, but he couldn't get himself to say it. "So why marry Lu-Shi?"
"I... I did actually like Lu-Shi. We had a lot in common so I did genuinely like her. But when they said we were going to be married, I knew something was off. I thought maybe she wasn't as kind or friendly as I thought she was and was just after the Dragon Warrior title. Well, I was half right. I guess I was forcing myself to love her because I knew Tigress wouldn't love me. I guess I was more upset at the ceremony about the fact that I had a chance to... move on from my crush or love or whatever from Tigress but it blew up in my face... again."
"Again?"
"Lu-Shi is definitely not the first person I've tried to fall in love with. I've had many other people, better or worse than her, but have moved or dated someone else. Fate just seemed to leave me with Tigress. Not that I'm complaining! It's just... hard to be with someone you love but they don't feel the same way."
"That doesn't explain why you would give up the Dragon Warrior title," Shifu said. Po sat back down in the chair and placed his head in his hands.
"Ever since I got the Dragon Warrior title, it was becoming more dramatic in my love life. First Song, then the thing with Monkey and the supervisor's daughter, and my latest drama with Lu-Shi. It wasn't different from my dating life before, but it was a lot more dangerous... and with more knives too. If I didn't have to suffer another attempted murder or drama from someone I loved because of my title, then I was okay with it. As an added bonus, I was planning on moving away from the Valley of Peace... to get away from Tigress so I wouldn't be haunted by past memories." Po looked at Shifu, thinking he would have a sign of disapproval, but he only saw a gentle smile. It was weird for Po. "What? No scowling look or 'how could you be so stupid' talk."
"No need," Shifu said, "It seems you have that conversation with yourself many times," Po grumbled in annoyance. "But have you simply asked Tigress if she feels the same way?"
"She's given me all the signs that she doesn't," Po answered, "Plus, now I know I'm stuck with the whole 'give up the Dragon Warrior title' thing if we did become something more."
"Oh, yeah, about that. I may have told you that to fish out Junjie," Shifu replied. Po's eyes widened.
"So that whole thing was fake?! Then how did Junjie know about it?!"
"I gave him a false tip. I needed to make him slip up," Shifu explained. Po gave a great huff.
"That's great and all, but that still doesn't help me with my situation with Tigress," Po replied. Shifu smiled as he got up.
"Don't worry, I know that things will go right," Shifu replied as he walked away.
Tigress was in her room meditating when Master Shifu walked in. "Master Shifu?" Tigress asked, standing up and bowing, "What's the matter?"
"Nothing, Tigress. But I was wondering if I could have a word with you in private," Shifu replied, leading the way out the door. Tigress silently walked with her master to the misty Pool of Sacred Tears. Shifu sat crisscrossed on a flat rock while Tigress did the same on the moist ground.
"What is it, Master Shifu?" Tigress asked concerned.
"Tigress, I want you to speak honestly with me. What are your thoughts on this situation with Po and Lu-Shi?" Tigress's eyes widened. She turned her head away from Shifu.
"I...I don't have any... except that... I feel sorry for Po," Tigress replied slowly, "This was someone that he loved very dearly. Enough to... give up the title of Dragon Warrior."
"It probably would have worked in your favor," Shifu added, looking down from his rock, "Po probably would have given the title to you instead." Tigress's eyes widened again.
"But... but I wasn't chosen."
"It doesn't matter. Since he is Dragon Warrior, he has the right to do that," Shifu answered.
"...Oh," Tigress silently whispered. It was quiet before Shifu asked-
"And were you, at any time, jealous of Lu-Shi?" Tigress rolled her eyes and stood up from the ground.
"Master," She said annoyed, "I was NOT jealous of Lu-Shi."
"Then maybe you were jealous of the fact that she was getting married and you weren't? If it was then I have had-"
"WHAT? NO! I was jealous of no one, Master Shifu," Tigress exclaimed.
"Are you sure?"
"YES!" Tigress almost shouted. She sighed, calming down. "What brought this on, Master Shifu?"
"Well, you seemed very calm and collective when you were talking to Po while we were cleaning the village. But then you started training intensely," Shifu explained.
"What's wrong with that?"
"You only do that when you're upset," Shifu replied. Tigress felt trapped, but she didn't know why.
"Master Shifu. I promise you that I was not consciously upset about anything," Tigress carefully explained.
"Then you're saying that you were unconsciously jealous," Shifu probed.
"No! I wasn't!"
"Then what was it then? You were more protective of Po than normal. Why? Were you jealous of Po, of Lu-Shi, of couples? What?"
"I was jealous of her having Po!" Tigress burst out. She quickly covered her mouth as her eyes were the size of saucers. "I'm sorry, Master Shifu. I didn't mean to-"
"Tigress," Shifu said, holding up his hand and showing her the floor. Tigress sat down next to Shifu. "Now, tell me. What is really going on inside of you?" Tigress was silent for a moment.
"I...I think I like Po. More dearly than I thought. I've always liked him since the battle with Lord Shen, but telling him has been... troubling."
"Why?"
"Because of... I...I feel weak about telling him. I don't want to be taken advantage of, but I know that Po would never do that. Every time I've tried to tell him, it's only ended in me-"
"Punching him to make sure you don't look weak?" Shifu guessed. Tigress hung her head in shame. "Tigress, I know that you've never been one to show your feelings, but you should know now, especially dealing with Po, that in times of vulnerability-"
"We are our strongest," Tigress finished. She sighed in defeat. "Then why am I so... scared? I've mistreated Po so much and this whole thing with Lu-Shi hasn't made it better." Shifu hopped off of his rock and started down the mountain.
"Then make it better," Shifu replied, leaving the tiger to her thoughts.
Po nervously walked to Tigress's room while the others were gone on a mission. He was about to knock on her door when she opened the door. "Um..." Po stuttered.
"Oh, Po," Tigress said, a little surprised that he was there. "What's the matter?"
"Um... can we talk in your room?" Po asked. He knew the others were gone, but he still didn't want to risk it.
"Uh, sure," Tigress replied, letting the panda come in. They stood there in silence for a moment.
"Po/ Tigress I-" They said simultaneously.
"You first," Po offered.
"Po, I'm really sorry for what happened between you and Lu-Shi. I know that I'm not the best person to understand what you're going through, but I know that it must really hurt. Both emotionally and physically."
"Yeah, I'm still a little tender from the fire thing," Po chuckled.
"And... I want to apologize for giving you such a hard time."
"That's okay, Tigress. It was just a girl."
"Not just that. I'm sorry for giving you a hard time with everything. Honestly, it's because I have a hard time trusting people," Tigress explained.
"So you test me to see if you can trust me?"
"That and you do truly annoy me from time to time," Tigress added with a smirk.
"Hehe, sorry," Po sighed.
"Now, what did you want to tell me?"
"Um... Well, I... Gosh, this is hard to say. Um..."
"Po, what's wrong?" Tigress asked, tenderly, "You can tell me."
"I... I can't," Po sighed, "But I can show you."
"Po, what are you-"
"Just... smack me if you don't feel the same way," Po bravely said, grabbing her face.
"What are you do MMPH!" Tigress stopped short when Po kissed her. The panda counted the seconds until he was sure that Tigress would slap him. 1. 2. 3. After five, Po found Tigress starting to kiss back. Po lunged back in surprise. Tigress looked surprised as well, but her face soon turned into a frustrated look. Why did he stop? She thought annoyed.
"I'm sorry Tigress. I just OHMM!" Po stopped. Tigress kissed him back, passionately wrapping her arms around his neck. Po froze, but soon thawed out and wrapped his arms around her waist. Tigress slowly withdrew and smiled.
"I feel the same way," Tigress smiled. "But if you did then-"
"I didn't think you would ever see me that way," Po confessed, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm sorry. I hope you don't think this is a rebound or something." Tigress smirked.
"Don't worry, Po. If it were, I would just slice you to pieces," She grinned.
"Hehehehe," Po nervously laughed. Tigress rested her head against his shoulder. "So... does this mean you'll marry me?" Tigress's head jerked up and looked at him. "Too soon?" Po asked with a cheeky smile. Tigress rolled her eyes with a smile as she punched him in the shoulder.
The End