Chapter 1: Suprise, Suprise
It was a foggy and gloomy, yet cheerful day in the Valley of Peace as the kind citizens were going about their morning routines. Children were in school, parents were shopping, patrons were buying their meals, and there were even a few people street performing. Life in their part of the world was good.
It had only been a little over three months since the rise and fall of Lord Shen and his armada, and only a couple of weeks since the celebrations to honor the Kung Fu Masters that protected them died down. And though things seemed peaceful at first, events, even the most feeble, began to set in motion that would soon create an avalanche of danger the likes of which not even the warriors had ever seen.
Up the mountaintop of the Jade Palace, in the Palace kitchen, there was a certain fluffy panda fixing lunch for his idols. Nay his friends; a thought that would make him almost giddy at the initial prospect.
As he finished frying the fish and fried potatoes, the Furious Five came in from training smelling the delicious odor that filled their nostrils and made their stomachs gurgle with glee. After everyone had sat down, Po set each of their food-filled plates down in front of them and joined the group by sitting in between Mantis, who in truth simply sat on top of the table, and Tigress.
The midday meal started at the peak of normality, but soon it went into a little dip in the panda's pleasant return into his newly regained routine.
"This ain't too shabby, Po.", said Mantis, "Why haven't you ever made this for us before?"
Po chuckled a bit to himself in a soft yet anxious flinch, "Not sure, I guess it's because I'm finally getting used to my life here."
Everyone gave him a confused look as they ate, expecting him to continue and explain. When he didn't, an urge to break the silence with a question filled the air.
"I'm not sure that I understand. What do you mean, 'you're finally getting used to your life here'?", asked Crane, who eyed the panda.
Po glanced at everyone in the room with the smallest hint of nervousness in his features. No one seemed to notice this except Tigress, who had become accustomed to reading a person's body language throughout her years of training.
"It's nothing, to be honest." he said, "I guess to answer your question Mantis, is that I never really wanted to buy any fish down in the Valley. That old pig that sells them always gives me a weird look when I walk by."
"Po, he has a lazy eye. He stares like that at everybody.", said Viper before taking a sip of water.
Po attempted to act surprised "Oh, okay. Guess I owe him an apology then." he chuckled softly and continued to eat lunch along with everyone else. Save for Tigress, who studied him for a minute before going back to her food.
Her thoughts danced in her head for the remainder of the meal. "Why did he lie to us just now? Over his cooking, no less. It doesn't seem like a very personal issue. But just in case, I will wait until we are alone before I interrogate him."
Slowly she finished the rest of her meal and waited for the panda. Thankfully his nerves had caused his normal fast paced scarfing to slow. He was eating even slower than Viper. One by one the rest of the Five finished their food, put their dishes in the sink, and left the kitchen until the two were finally alone. Po finished his food just after Viper had left and proceeded to take his plate and cup to the sink to begin his regular chore. Tigress studied him yet again before speaking up.
"Po?", she said.
"Hm?, "exclaimed the panda before glancing over his shoulder, "Oh hey, Tigress. I thought you were going back to the Training Hall with the others.", he continued to wash the dishes, but he now held a small, genuine smile that was different from his normal reflexive state.
"In a few minutes, perhaps. But right now I need you to help me get some peaches from the Sacred Peach Tree after you are finished, if that's okay with you. I will need about three dozen or so, after all.", she said.
"I don't see why not. But why do you need so many peaches?", Po asked without looking away from the dish water that his paws had been immersed in as he continued to wash the dishes.
"It's a surprise for Master Shifu. His birthday is coming up, and I wanted to make him a pie."
Po blinked for a second as he stared at the wall behind the sink, caught in the moment of the question she seemed to avoid, "But, again, why so many peaches?"
"Po tell me, after how long we hve known each other have you ever seen me bake anything? Or cook anything at all?", she then shrugged lightly, "I want to make sure I do everything perfectly, and I know that I do not have the skills to bake it correctly the first time around."
"Ohhh, okay.", Po nodded as he finished the dishes and turned around before they made their way to the door and outside towards the peach tree. Normally Tigress wouldn't mind just talking with him in the kitchen, but this seemed important. And she wished to avoid any stragglers that may or may not decide to prod their noses in their business. Particularly bug or primate stragglers.
Tigress stopped for a moment and blinked, "Our business? I meant Po's business. Yes, of course that is what I meant...", the tiger shook her head and continued to follow the bear.
Once they arrived, Po immediately began to pick the peaches with one arm and hold them with his other. He was making short work of it, so Tigress decided she might as well get to work.
She leaned on the tree, close to the opposite side of where he was standing as she spoke with a tone befitting a careless sloth.
"So why did you lie to everyone back there, Po?", asked the feline while gazing at her claws, seemingly inspecting them for imperfections. Po glanced at her as he continued to pick peaches.
"What do you mean, the fish thing? I didn't lie. That old pig really gives me the creeps sometimes.", Po gave a small, but obviously fake shudder.
Tigress rolled her scarlet eyes, "I am not talking about that, although you did lie about him as well. You stuck up for him when Mantis made a joke about his eye at your dad's noodle shop a couple of months ago.", she smiled some, making sure he didn't see it. Tigress always admired how pure of heart and kind he was. But her smile faded so that she could look straight at him, "I speak of your lie about 'getting used to your life here'."
She withdrew from the tree and took a small step closer to him to look him straight in the eye to make sure that their eyes locked. No one could hold out too long from her piercing gaze. And it worked. Po had stopped picking peaches the second he looked in Tigress' eyes and gently set them down with a sigh.
"You're not really making a pie for Master Shifu, are you?", he said with a tone of annoyance in his voice.
"Answer my question first. What did you mean by it? Is it really such a bad thing to admit something to a friend? Especially when the confession is so small a thing? Especially when two friends are as close as we are?", she drew a bit closer so her eyes would be even more unbearable.
Her gaze was really starting to get to him. He enjoyed looking at her eyes all the time. When she was training, when they were sparring, or when they were just facing each other in the hall of the barracks at the sound of the gong. He could stare at those eyes for hours on end. But this was different. These eyes had a purpose to ensnare, capture, and defeat any resistance. He could never ignore any normal everyday request from her, but this...this was just too hard to even think for a fleeting moment that he could ignore it.
Po pinched the bridge of his nose and let out an almost unheard groan.
"Okay, but do you promise not to get too angry with me, or more importantly tell anyone else regarding what I'm about to tell you?", he said as his fingers still clung to his snout. Tigress gently pulled his arm down so that his hand was away from his face, giving him a soft smile.
"Of course. ", she sat down at the base of the tree and patted the spot next to her. Po sat down where her paw was and stared down at the grass beside his feet with an uneasy air, his nerves strained to the point where he wanted to smack himself.
"What I was starting to say was..." he looked into her eyes for a moment in a glance, causing his nerves to steady some."...I...well, first off I always thought of you guys as my friends from the day that Tai Lung was defeated.", he did not see it, but Tigress shook her head in a smirk at Po's natural modesty from not boasting about his first victory as a Kung Fu Master, "But since that day I still felt like I didn't belong here. Living in a Palace, being around Palace servants that basically do whatever I ask, living in the same place as my childhood heroes, becoming the Dragon Warrior and the talk of all around China...i-it got to be a little too much for me to handle. Do you remember that even on our day off every week I wouldn't go anywhere near the Palace doors?"
Tigress nodded, trying to listen to everything he had to say with eager sympathy.
"Yes, but you started going down to the village a couple of months ago.", stated Tigress in an understanding sigh. She was beginning to realize what he was saying, though she had always suspected it. When she actually started to see him as a friend and care for him, Tigress started to reflect on the fact of just how hard this life change had been on him. From a normal, everyday commoner to basically royalty in just a few short days. Her heart sank whenever she thought about the ugly things she had said to him during said days, but she has since apologized and he, to her surprise, accepted her apology wholeheartedly. That still didn't change the fact that she still felt a little guilty.
"Right. Well, that brings me to my point. You guys started to become a real family to me. Through our missions and adventures together I felt much closer and came to trust you all with my life. But until the whole 'Lord Shen' fiasco, I had always had that little part inside of me that said, 'You don't belong here. They don't really care, you're just a prophecy turned truth to them. You're just a weapon.'"
Tigress' face began to show a mix of shock and anger with each word he spoke, and that last word was the last straw. 'Weapon'. Did he really think that that's all he was to them? She looked so angry that Po thought he had truly struck a nerve and started to inch away slightly, fearing retribution.
"Buuut!", he put his paws up in defense so that she would allow him to continue, and thanked every god he could think of that she nodded slightly to let him finish before beating him to a pulp.
He sighed in relief and shame as his paws lowered, "But after we defeated Lord Shen, I realized just how much you all cared for me. And those thoughts finally went away…completely."
Tigress looked at him for a minute, her anger seeming to have subsided to some extent, but it was replaced with annoyance and confusion.
"That is touching Po, but..."she spoke slowly as she tried to keep calm, thinking he was avoiding her question, "How does that...have anything to do...with you making us...fish...and fried potatoes...?"
Po tapped his fingertips over his somewhat large belly nervously and looked down. He felt so silly at the moment for dragging this out like he did. But she sat there and listened to him rant, so she deserved the truth.
"I really don't have much confidence in myself Tigress, I'm sure you know that.", he said softly, never looking away from the ground, "The only thing I ever had confidence in was the noodle soup that my dad taught me to make. And I was afraid that-"
"That we would not accept you if you made anything else.", Po nodded, and she sighed.
"Po, I do not know how much confidence that you think you should have. I am unsure as to how much you have right now. But you have saved China twice from two of the most evil men in the country, you have saved our lives on a few more occasions, you are the talk of China, and you were chosen by the universe to be the Dragon Warrior. You have earned the respect and admiration of a lot of people, including Master Shifu, the Five, and most of all me. The way I see it, you should have enough confidence to do anything you wish. And with a heart like yours, I do not think we will have to worry about you becoming 'just a weapon'.", she joined him in a soft laugh after she saw his once stressful lips curve into a smile.
"Thank you, Tigress.", he stood up with her and blinked a few times, "Wait, just how much do you respect and admire me?" he gave her a smug smile as he folded his arms. She blushed enough to almost glow the orange fur on her face.
"Well, you see, I-"she looked back at the Palace, then back to him, "I think Master Shifu is calling for us. We should get back to training."
She quickly turned on her heel and walked in haste back to the palace with Po trailing behind her carrying a stunned look on his face. He was only joking around with his best friend, yet that look on her face..."No, it couldn't be. Could it? Does she really...like me like that? So…so that means…", he thought and blushed in turn, grateful that she had her back turned to him as they went on their way back to the Training Hall.
