Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda
All Thanks To A Lotus Flower
Viper hummed happily to herself as she slithered through the village of the Valley of Peace.
For the last few days the valley had actually been living up to its name and had been very peaceful without any attacks from bandits, former friends/allies turned enemies or any other bad people.
Earlier that day Shifu had given her, the others members of the Furious Five and Po the rest of the day off because he had gotten an invitation to a wedding from some old friend of his.
After packing up and setting a few house-rules the old red panda had left an hour ago, saying he would return in about a week.
That said it pretty much meant she and the others could mostly do what they wanted, though she herself and the other members of the Five had agreed that they should at least keep training a certain period each day.
Po had of course called them boring buzzkills for wanting to train when they had the chance not too but Viper had a feeling that Tigress would make sure the panda still trained a bit, weather he wanted to or not.
The reptile couldn't help but giggle slightly to herself at that.
No matter what Po did, he would always end up getting beaten by the feline for annoying her with his behavior.
THUD!
"Owww…" Viper groaned to herself as she rubbed her forehead with her tail.
It looked like while she had been in thought, she hadn't really notice the tree in front of her until it was already too late.
Looking around she was glad to see nobody seemed to have seen her blunder as that would have been embarrassing.
After her head stopped throbbing she felt that the small pink lotus flowers on her head had shifted a bit and frowned.
She figured out many years ago that she needed to wear those things just right or else they could easily fall off due to her not having fur or feathers to help keep them in place.
Reaching up she quickly fixed one but just as she was about to do the same with the other a huge gust of wind blew with enough force that Viper had to fight to keep herself from falling over.
Then, due to reasons earlier mentioned, one of her flowers was lifted up and flew through the air.
"Oh no!" Viper gasped before giving chase after it, thought this time she also made sure to look where she was going so she didn't bump into people.
Nature didn't seem to like her as the wind didn't drop and carried her flower for a long time while she chased.
Lucky for her it finally stopped blowing at the edge of the forest so she wouldn't have to enter it where she could lose sight of her goal.
Unluckily for her the flower landed right on the tip of a very high bamboo stake.
"Oh dear…" she groaned to herself as she looked at it, trying to figure out a way to get it back.
Sure, she could jump really high but not that high and she wasn't the best climber.
At least, not when it came to bamboo.
"Viper?" she jumped when a familiar voice suddenly spoke her name.
"Oh, Monkey! Please don't scare me like that!" she told her golden friend as she spotted him making his way towards her.
"Right, sorry about that." Monkey apologized with a smile.
"It's fine." Viper responded with a smile of her own.
"So, what's up? You look worried." Monkey asked.
"Yeah, I didn't really pay attention to where I was going, hit me head, making my lotus flowers shift and then one was blown all the way up there." Viper explained sheepishly while pointing up at where her accessory hung.
"Hmmm…" she could hear Monkey think behind her.
"Yeah, I really don't know how I- What are you doing?!" Viper gasped in surprise when her friend suddenly leaped over her and onto the bamboo stake and started climbing up faster than anyone else she knew could.
"Getting your flower!" Monkey called back as he reached the tip of the plant and got Viper's flower with one hand before using his other hand and both his feet to keep a good grip and casually slide down, stopping about three feet from the ground, right in front of Viper.
"Got your lotus!" the primate grinned as he held the flower out towards her.
Seeing how Monkey hadn't even hesitated to get her precious flower made Viper smile.
"Thank you so much!" she thanked him as she took her flower and placed it back on her head.
As she did so she couldn't help but blush slightly.
"No problem." he shrugged as he jumped back onto the ground.
"No, really! How can I make it up to you?" Viper asked, not wanting to just brush it aside.
"You don't have to!" Monkey insisted with a small smile.
"But I want to!" she argued with a smile of her own.
"Well... How about we have dinner together?" he suggested, catching her of guard.
"What? Dinner? As in just the two of us? You mean… like a-" Viper couldn't bring herself to finish her questioning as she felt herself turn completely red in the face.
She didn't have to because Monkey seemed to understand what she meant.
"Not a date! I mean, it doesn't have to be one if you don't want to! Not that that was my intention but I… Uhm…" it would seem her outburst had made him just as awkward.
"R-Right! Alright, not a date…" Viper tried to calm both of them down.
"Yeah. You see, there's this new Japanese restaurant that opened just a few days ago and don't get me wrong, I love Po and Mr Ping's cooking but sometimes I'd just like to try something different, you know?" he told her and she nodded.
"Yes, I understand what you're saying and I agree and sorry if this may sound rude but why are you asking me and not Mantis?" Viper inquired as normally the primate and the insect were practically inseparable.
Monkey gave an awkward chuckle at that.
"Actually, he and I were supposed to go tonight but he kinda ditched me." he explained as he scratched his cheek.
Viper on the other hand wasn't so amused.
"He ditched you?! I can't believe him!" she cried out, feeling extremely annoyed with the bug while Monkey awkwardly tried to shush her while looking around if there was anybody around to hear them.
"Viper, calm down! He's got a reason!" he told her and she simply hissed and stared back, wordlessly daring him to try and defend his friend.
"Take it easy! You see, he's had a huge crush on this ladybug for like forever and after Crane and I set up some roadblocks to keep other people from reaching her house did he finally manage to get some privacy with her and ask her out on a date and she said yes!" the primate quickly explained and Viper smiled at that.
She had been aware of Mantis' crush as the bug had often come to her for advice.
Then suddenly the full story sunk in.
"Wait... You and Crane put up roadblocks?" she asked and groaned when Monkeys just gave a sheepish grin.
"Monkey, that's ridiculous!" she scolded while he scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah, I know that but at least it worked, right?" he chuckled and she sighed.
"I suppose so..." she agreed before glaring back at her friend.
"But he still shouldn't have ditched you! You don't deserve that!" she told him sternly.
He confused her by simply grinning back.
"But at least I've got you for company, right?" he winked at her as he said this and while knowing it was most likely just friendly playfullness on the primate's part, Viper felt herself blush at the action.
Sensing her change in attitude Monkey cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head.
"Sooo... It's still too early for dinner yet so how about we meet up at the front of Mr Ping's shop at six and we'll go to the new place from there. Unless you already had plans tonight, of course! I mean, we can go any day and-"
"Monkey, easy!" Viper yelled as he had started ranting.
"Don't worry, I didn't have any plans tonight at all so we can have dinner today." the serpent gently told him, happy he had wanted to make sure she really wanted and was able to go tonight.
"Oh! Oh. Well, alright! Right now I gotta take care of some things so I guess I'll see you tonight?" Monkey offered and Viper nodded.
"I'm looking forward to it." she said and before she knew it she leaned forward and lightly kissed Monkey on the cheek.
As she pulled back her eyes widened as she realised what she just did.
Looking at her friend she found him staring back at her with his eyes just as wide as hers and his mouth slightly open.
Viper's face felt hot she she was pretty sure it was completely red by now.
"Bye!"she blurted before slithering away as fast as she could.
She raced all the way back into town and hid behind a random building where she panted as she tried to catch her breath, placing the tip of her tail at where her heart was.
She couldn't believe she just did that!
She hadn't planned on it at all but by some stuid impulse she did it anyway and ended up planting her lips on Monkey's cheek.
Just how stupid was she?!
Now Monkey probably thought she did see them having dinner later that day as a date, even if they had both said it wasn't!
Then again, maybe it wouldn't even be so bad if it was an actual date.
After all, Viper knew that despite being an overal goofball from time to time, Monkey was really sweet and a gentleman, him getting her flower for her being one of the examples of that.
'And he's not too bad-looking either.' she thought with a small blush blooming on her face again.
Yeah, she wouldn't mind if this would be considered an actual date and if they'll have fun she'll most likely agree to go on more with him.
Slowly she made her way back into the streets, stopping when she passed a small stand that sold metal items and she saw her own reflection in a perfectly polished metal pot.
The thing that drew out most her attention was the small pink lotus flower that she lost earlier that day and was now safely back on her head.
Reaching up Viper gently stroked her flower with the tip of her tail as she smiled fondly.
After all, without that thing none of this would've happened.
She was going to have dinner tonight with a good friend as a not-date that might become a real date and Viper was happy with that and it was all thanks to a lotus flower.
The End
Hey, people! I hope you all liked this fic and will read my other work too! Also, this fic will also be posted on my DeviantArt account with a link to the cover image I've got here! Bye!