It was a peaceful day in the Valley of Peace (hence the name) and our heroes were out shopping for decorations. Tomorrow night was the night of the Winter Festival and this year it was at the Jade Palace at the very same place where Master Oogway chose Po as the Dragon Warrior. Everyone in the valley was asking dates to the festival because the festival had a dance every year. So far though, Po and the five didn't have dates but two of them had people in mind.
The shopping was almost complete but they needed to make one more stop. They trudged through the snow on their way to the store that sold this biggest and best Christmas trees and they needed a pretty big one. As they walked down the road the sights and sounds of Christmas made them feel warm inside despite the fact that it was snowing. Finally they reached the store. They all split up to find a good tree. Viper went with Crane, Monkey went with Mantis and Tigress went with Po.
Once Tigress and Po were alone, Po took one look at the big lot with all the trees and said, "This is going to take all day."
Tigress rolled her eyes but smiled and the two walked in. As soon as they walked in Tigress stopped and looked at something. Po noticed this and he stopped too. "What is it Tigress?" he asked. Po followed her eyes to a white tiger standing a few feet away. He was tall, had broad shoulders and wore pants similar to Tai Lung's. He suddenly looked at Tigress and got the same look on his face as her except his eyes were wider due to Tigress being hardcore.
"Tigress?" the tiger asked.
"Cheng?" Tigress replied.
Cheng walked up to her smiling. "It's great to see you! How long has it been?"
"About 15 years." Tigress said.
Throughout this Po had been silent. "You know him, Tigress?" he finally asked.
Tigress turned around remembering Po was there. "Oh, yeah. Po this is Cheng. I knew him back at Bao Gu when I was little. Cheng, this is Po, the Dragon Warrior."
Cheng got an eager look in his eyes. "Awesome! Dude you're legendary!"
Po smiled but rolled his eyes as well. "Thanks." he said and shook Cheng's hand. Before anything else could be said the other four came up to them. After they were all introduced to Cheng and vice versa they were all hungry so they went to Mr. Ping's for lunch which was only about three blocks away.
Eventually they all sat down to their noodles. They ate silently for a few minutes but sometimes when Po looked up he saw Cheng sneaking quick glances at Tigress and looking like he was going to say something. Po had a feeling in his gut that Cheng liked Tigress. He clenched his fist under the table. Finally after a long and creepy silence, Cheng stood up. "Hey Tigress, Can you come with me real quickly?" he asked Tigress.
Tigress looked confused but she got up anyway and she and Cheng walked out the entrance of the noodle shop and rounded the corner. Po had seen enough. He got up from the table and began walking towards the entrance.
"Po, where are you going?" Viper asked. Po stopped and looked at her suddenly remembering his friends were still there. "Oh! I… I left something back at the Palace. I'll be right back." he said. Before the others could reply he ran out the entrance. Once he rounded the corner they all went back to eating their noodles. Po quickly went the other direction when he was sure the four weren't looking.
Tigress and Cheng were in the alley next to the noodle shop. Po listened to them quietly.
"Hey Tigress, I… I was… wondering if you wanted to be my date to the winter festival?" he heard Cheng say. Po didn't want to hear anything else. He was sure he knew what Tigress' answer would be. He sprinted back to the Palace with a broken heart.
Tigress on the other hand was just standing in silence in front of Cheng. Finally she replied, "I'm sorry Cheng, but… someone's already asked me and I said I would go with him." Cheng looked disappointed but he smiled and said, "Well he's a lucky guy." Tigress smiled back happy to know that Cheng understood. The truth was no one had asked her but there was one guy she had her eye on. When the two walked back in Cheng told the others he had to leave. After saying goodbye he left.
"Where's Po?" Tigress asked.
"He told us he went to grab something back at home but you might want to check on him. He looked upset about something." Viper replied.
Tigress nodded and took off for the Palace. After she made it up the long flight of stairs she began to think. "Where would he go if he was upset?" Tigress said to herself. Finally she decided to check the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom. Sure enough when she looked up the small hill after climbing it a bit, there was Po. She was about to go ask him what was wrong when she heard him singing. She stopped and listened.
I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house
That don't bother me
I can take a few tears now and then and just let em out
I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while even though
Goin' on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again I pretend I'm okay
But that's not what gets me
What hurts the most
Was being so close
And havin' so much to say
And watchin' you walk away
And never knowin'
What could've been
And not seein' that lovin' you
Is what I was tryin' to do
Tigress, even though she was hardcore, could feel her heart breaking. Po feeling like this was the last thing that she wanted to have happen to him but she continued to listen.
It's hard to deal with the pain of losing' you everywhere I go
But I'm doing' it
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone
Still harder gettin' up, gettin' dressed, livin' with this regret
But I know if I could do it over
I would trade,
give away all the words that I saved
in my heart
That I left unspoken
What hurts the most
Is being so close
And havin' so much to say
And watchin' you walk away
And never knowin'
What could've been
And not seein' that lovin' you
Is what I was tryin' to do, oh
Oh yeah
What hurts the most
Was being so close
And havin' so much to say
And watchin' you walk away
And never knowin'
What could've been
And not seein' that lovin' you
Is what I was tryin' to do
Not seein' that lovin' you
That's what I was trying to do
Tigress finally came out of hiding. "Po, are you okay?" she asked. Po jumped and turned around.
"Did you… hear any of that?" he asked. Tigress nodded. Before Po knew it, the truth came out. "I heard that song a while ago and I sang it now because of how I felt when I saw that Cheng asked you to be his date to the winter festival." he said and once he realized what he had said, he quickly covered his mouth.
Tigress walked up to Po and sat down next to him. "I turned him down because I wanted to go with you." she replied. Po's eyes grew wide. "Really?" Po asked. Tigress nodded.
Po then smiled and said, "So do you want to be my date to the winter festival?" Tigress smiled. "Of course." she replied. Po smiled bigger and brought his lips to hers which Tigress immediately returned and wrapped her arms around him which Po returned as well.
A while later, the two went back to the noodle shop and when they found the four, they all went to get the Christmas tree and brought it back to the Jade Palace. The next day after they had all finished getting the Palace ready and night came, the whole village had an incredible Winter Festival they never forgot, especially Po and Tigress.
The End