A/N: Hey, I'm back! I said I would upload my multi-chapter CranexViper fic, so here it is! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda, it belongs to Dreamworks Animation.

Feathers and Scales

Chapter 1: Feathers and Scales

He was a bird; she was a reptile.

He wore a conical straw hat; she had two lilies on her head.

He used to be a janitor; she was the daughter of a great kung fu master.

He learned confidence; she learned courage.

About four months after Tai Lung's defeat, two individuals set aside their differences and started to grown a very friendly affection between them. They hadn't gotten too deep in their relationship, but just wanted to be closer together and more than just fellow warriors. And they had become one of the unlikeliest of couples the world had probably ever known.

Masters Crane and Viper, from the Jade Palace.

Two members of the greatest kung fu team in China starting a new romantic beginning was probably one of the last things anyone would expect of expert martial artists. However, the two of them decided that they wanted a bit of change in their lives.

They started off spending their spare time together by going down to the village for a few dates. As time passed, they began going out more frequently to the point that a few of the other Jade Palace masters had quickly figured out what had been going on between the two. However, two of the masters hadn't known about Crane and Viper's "new beginning" until late one evening…

Po had just finished making a large pot of soup and a fresh batch of thick noodles. The Furious Five sat at the dining table, waiting for the panda to finish preparing all of the bowls.

Once Po poured broth into the last remaining bowl, he joined the others at the table and served the bowls around to everyone.

"Ok, guys, enjoy," the panda said.

"Thanks, Po," said every one of the Furious Five as they began slurping their noodles and broth.

Po sat in his own wooden chair and lifted up his spoon. Just when he dipped his spoon into his bowl and began bringing it to his mouth, he eyed the two masters sitting across from him- Crane and Viper. Something strange was going between the two of them. For some reason, Crane was tipping his head down towards Viper, his beak placed gently by Viper's head, and the two of them were smiling warmly at each other.

"Okay, seriously," Po said, pointing at the bird and reptile sitting closer to each other than he'd ever noticed. "You guys are creeping me out. What is up with you two?"

All eyes were laid on Po, including those of Crane and Viper.

"Um…you mean you haven't noticed?" asked Viper.

"Noticed what?" Po asked in return in a voice that demanded an answer. The room stayed quiet for about two seconds.

"Well, to be honest, you're only one of two people in the palace to know about this, but…" Monkey said, with a long pause after the end of his speech.

"Know about what?" Po asked slightly annoyed.

Mantis hopped forward. "Duh!" he exclaimed as all eyes were laid on him. "Isn't it obvious? Crane and Viper are officially boyfriend and girlfriend! As in 'dating'! And they've been going at it for quite a while already! How did you not find out?"

"Okay, okay, Mantis, calm down!" Po exclaimed quietly, followed by a "sheesh". He turned to Viper and Crane again.

"So you guys are…I can't believe what I'm hearing…dating?" the panda asked, laughing right in between his question.

Crane looked at Viper, while she did the same. They both turned back to Po.

"Um…of course," answered Crane.

Po donned an awkward smile, as if he were about to start laughing. "All right, then," he said, chuckling. "Congratulations?"

"Was I hearing something about Crane and Viper?" A familiar voice coming from the door startled the dining warriors.

Everyone turned to the door, where Master Shifu stood.

"Master Shifu!" Po exclaimed, his eyes darting around. "You…heard…our conversation?"

"Only part of it," replied the red panda, walking slowly into the kitchen. "Not much really. What exactly were you all talking about? I thought I heard something about you two, Crane and Viper." He indicated the two mentioned masters with his hand.

"Right now, you're the only one who doesn't know, Master, so I guess it's about time we told you…" said Crane.

"I'm listening," Shifu said.

Everyone looked at the bird and reptile pair, the two of them looking at each other. Viper sighed.

"Well, Master, I'm just going to say it…Crane and I are dating- in a relationship, you know," the snake admitted.

Master Shifu raised an eyebrow, showing a bit of surprise, before walking towards the stove.

"Oh, that's wonderful, congratulations to both of you," he said in his normal calm tone of voice. "But why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"Oh, we…I guess we wanted to just initially keep it between us two," Crane answered. "But now that I think about it, making it public was a great idea."

Viper giggled and wrapped her long, scaly tail around Crane's feathery wing. Her feathered friend was startled as soon as he felt Viper's tail touch him. He looked down at his right appendage and saw his girlfriend's green tail coiled loosely around it. He stared at Viper, who was smiling, and showed a small grin right back. Crane let out a small laugh while bringing his head closer to Viper's. When their heads touched, Viper wrapped herself halfway around Crane's neck, giving him a tiny embrace.

As soon as the couple opened their eyes, a feeling of embarrassment quickly fell upon them after seeing the expressions on the others' faces. Po's eyes were as wide as dinner plates while Tigress cocked an eyebrow. Mantis bore an expression similar to that of Tigress, Monkey's face looked somewhat bewildered, while Master Shifu's eyes seemed to twitch ever so slightly.

"Uh…yeah, guys, perfect time to do that," Po said sarcastically, making every eye in the room gaze directly at him.

Crane and Viper started to feel warm in their heads. "Hehe…sorry, guys, I have no idea why that happened," apologized Crane.

"I guess we'll try to act 'normally' from now until dinner's over," added Viper.

Everyone quickly diverted their attention away from the couple, resuming their evening meal as if nothing had happened.

Viper looked at her boyfriend. "Sorry about that," she apologized.

Crane laughed as quietly as he could. "Aw, it's nothing to apologize over," he replied, watching Viper smile in return.

The rest of dinner did in fact turn out normally, just like Viper had suggested it be. After the meal and getting ready to sleep, everyone walked straight into their quarters.

Everyone except for Viper, that is.

Instead of heading to her room, Viper slithered silently to her boyfriend's room. She pushed the door gently, careful not to make any noise. Upon entering, she found Crane with his eyes still wide open, and that he had beautified his room with several objects, including a drawer, a table on which his straw hat was placed, banners, pieces of his calligraphy, candles, cozy blankets and a couple of soft pillows. Once his eyes met hers, they both grinned.

"Hey, Crane," greeted Viper, entering and closing the door behind her. "Nice room you got here."

"Hey, Viper," greeted Crane back. "And thanks! But, um, why are you in my room?"

"Thought we might talk," was the reply. "But, um, unless you'd rather just sleep right now, you know, that's okay with me."

"No, no, no, uh, it's okay!" Crane whispered. He grinned. "You can stay if you'd like."

"Really?"

"Um, sure."

Viper crawled closer to Crane so that they could whisper even more quietly, still able hear each other yet not waking up any of the others.

"So…what do you want to talk about?" asked Crane.

"Um…I don't know. What do you want to talk about?" said Viper back.

"Meh, not sure…what do you want to talk about?" Crane replied, asking his same question again.

"Beats me," replied Viper. "What do you want to talk about?"

Crane gave a strange look, accompanied by another smile. He and Viper knew that they would have to stop repeating their question. The two of them began to laugh ever so quietly.

"I seriously don't know," Crane said. "Say, have we been out recently? It was just a thought that came to mind."

"Not really," replied Viper. "Now that you mention it, I do think we should go again sometime."

"I heard that in about three days, there'll be some big thing going on down in the village," said Crane.

"A 'big thing'?" asked Viper. "What do you mean?"

"Pretty cool shows, you know…fireworks, theater, lots of food shops open. Some great stuff that I think we should see, if you have time on..." the bird paused, thinking about the day of the event. "…the day after the day after tomorrow."

"Well…" said Viper, looking down and at the small candle right in front of the two of them. "I guess I won't be busy."

"So can you do it?"

Viper looked up. "Sure, why not?"

The two of them smiled at each other, accompanied by a long silence.

"Yeah," said Crane, interrupting the silence. "It'll be great, I just know it."

"What's going on over there?" shouted Mantis's voice from his room.

"Yeah, aren't you guys going to sleep?" asked Po's slightly annoyed voice.

Viper looked back at Crane with enlarged eyes. Crane returned a similar look.

"Heh, I guess I should be heading back. They're starting to get annoyed," Viper said, starting off with a soft laugh.

"Right…" said Crane, assuming his sleeping position. "Well, good night, Viper."

"Good night, Crane," said Viper, facing the door and preparing to exit. As she opened the door to leave, Crane was all ready to sleep.

Viper closed the door as quietly as possible after she had exited Crane's room. She barely made a sound as she went back to her quarters.

Upon entering her room, Viper looked around it. There was a drawer in one corner for her most prized possessions, another drawer in another corner for her other things, a night table with three small white candles in water lily holders, and her small comfortable bed with a couple of extra blankets. It wasn't as nearly as filled as Crane's room, but it was comfortable enough.

Viper slid over to her bed and jumped in, tucking herself underneath her covers. Before she decided to sleep for the night, she thought one small thought to herself.

Maybe I should decorate my room like Crane did.

Within seconds, she was sleeping comfortably.

A/N: There's my first chapter for you. By they way, the only romantic pairings I support from Kung Fu Panda are CranexViper and TaiLungxTigress. Although I don't understand how people can like PoxTigress- they're too different for me.

Oh, yeah, the "courage and confidence" thing in the beginning is a reference to Secrets of the Furious Five. If you haven't seen it yet, go see it.

I'll publish Chapter 2 soon. Until then, ¡adiós!