Po entered the dining hall where Shifu and the rest of the Furious Five were seated.
"So, are you guys ready for an AWESOME Winter Feast?" he exclaimed, obviously elated.
"Po…Winter Feast isn't until two weeks from now.." Tigress dead-panned, obviously not elated.
The rest of the five snickered.
"Hey, hey…let's just let Po have his happy moments." Mantis put in.
Monkey looked quizzical at him,"But last time we did that, the barracks were burnt dow-"
"-Monkey PLEASE, let Mantis have his moment." Crane cut in, snickering at the un amused insect.
"-But you just took away MY moment!" the simian replied, slightly peeved that his justification was cut short.
Crane thought for a moment, "You know what Monkey, you're right, I'm sorr- HEY WAIT A MINUTE, you took my moment just then!" he pointed an accusing feather.
While the males of the table were fighting, Shifu, Tigress, and Po were staring back and forth between all the bickering, that was, until Viper decided to put a stop to it all.
"Actually, it's NO ONE'S moment." She stated matter of factly.
The rest of the males stopped and stared at her.
"It isn't?" The replied.
Viper chuckled, "Nope! Because it's always about ME!"
Everyone at the table sweat-dropped at her statement.
"What?" she asked, "Someone was going to have to throw it out there sooner or later…"
This broke into another conversation about who is the most important at the table…excluding Tigress and Shifu of course.
"Now Master Tigress, I hope you plan on getting the Ceremonial Dragon Warrior Present for the upcoming Festival." Shifu whispered to the tiger master.
"Of course Master, I will get the- I'm sorry, excuse me?" Said tiger master replied, obviously unaware of such a proposition.
Shifu rolled his eyes, "Oh Tigress, you remember the Ceremonial Gift, we do it for all the Dragon Warriors. Remember?"
"…Master, I don't recall all the Dragon Warriors seeing as we only have one.."
Shifu was silent for a second before quietly murmuring under his breath, 'It's either this tea I'm drinking or my old age…'
Tigress caught on to a little of that, "I'm sorry, Master?"
"Nothing, nothing…just be sure to find a decent gift for the panda by the time of the Winter Festival."
"Of course Master." Tigress whispered back, confidently.
During the end of her and her master's 'secret discussion', they looked back at all the members of the Furious Four…plus Po… only to see Crane having a tea drinking contest with Monkey.
Shifu's ear twitched.
Tigress' whiskers twitched.
"Erm….I better get going…I have some important meditation to get to…" He replied while hastily removing himself from the table.
"..Yes, you do that, Master." Tigress replied while walking out the door, heading out to look for Po a 'Ceremonial Gift'.
Before leaving, she took one glance back at the occupied table that now had Viper and Monkey…attempting to thumb-wrestle….with their tails…
"You can't beat a pro!" Monkey grunted.
"So you're saying that I can't beat myself?" Viper retorted, twisting her tail more.
Tigress visibly cringed at the sight muttering something amongst the lines of 'Must be the tea…'
As the tiger master descended the steps to the Jade Palace, she looked out towards the area, marveling it's beauty.
….such as the trees…
…and the buildings…
…and the two pigs fighting over which ribbon looked prettier on them.
"Hmm…I wonder what's at the town square…" she mused while breaking off into a full sprint towards the area.
She stopped in front of a stand which held some jewelry, although she wasn't sure why…seeing as Po wasn't very materialistic…let alone a female.
"Hey there hot mama…" the owner of the stand, a short, stubby pig had snorted.
'RETREAT.' Tigress thought as she casually walked away from the stand.
"…Nobody appreciates my chivalry.." the pig sighed, sad and feeling lonely.
"That's because nobody LOVES you!" a shrill voice shouted back at him.
The pig flinched, "Must you CONSTANTLY keep reminding me, mom?"
"Let's see where else I can shop without feeling molested…" Tigress grumbled, having walked past the FIFTH stand that had commented her looks and figure in a lewd manner.
"Oh, an action figure stand!" She inwardly exclaimed..but then sagged her shoulders slightly, "Po probably already has every action figure known to mammal though.."
She still made her way to the stand, hoping that maybe she could find something for Po.
"…Greetings.." She said to a figure that was stuck in the basket of the cart that she made her way to.
A muffled reply came from the figure.
"I am looking fo-…..do you need help?" Tigress went on before suddenly realizing tht the occupant of the basket was struggling.
She grabbed the hind legs of the figure-which appeared to be a goose, and lightly tugged, causing him to squawk out and tumbled into Tigress' paws.
"Are you okay?" She asked the shaken goose.
Said goose took one look at Tigress and nearly fainted,
"M-M-MASTER TIGRESS!" He shouted before bowing.
"What may I do to help you?"
She smiled, "Well, as you can see, Winter Festival is coming up, and I have to find the perfect gift for someone…"
The goose grinned, "I think I can help you…" he stated before he started chuckling, which caused the tiger master to join in on his laughter as well….until he started choking on his laughter and she had to slap in on the back a couple of times…
The Day of the Festival
It was the day of the festival, well, OBVIOUSLY, didn't you read the title that was placed right above th- nevermind.
It was the day of the festival, and the inhabitants of the Jade Palace had made their way to 's noodle shop where, according to Shifu, was now the traditional spot for such event.
"I hope you managed to find the Dragon Warrior a gift without a problem, Master Tigress." Shifu casually said to Tigress as they both trailed behind the others going into the shop.
Tigress grinned, "I sure have Master, in fact, I think you'll be quite surprised."
"Is that so?" he asked.
She nodded, "I think we'll all be surprised…" this time, she muttered it before walking a little faster.
Shifu looked at her quizzically before holding his head and muttering "It must be the tea…"
As the Winter Feast had started off, Po was, of course, helping himself to the table of decadent items, making the occasional 'OM-NOM-NOM' sounds to amuse the children around him.
"Tee-hee!" One of the children giggled, "You're so fat!"
….from that moment on, Po no longer made an 'OM-NOM-NOM' sounds…
Everyone was enjoying the festival, even Tigress, she was enjoying it A LOT!
…..she just felt like spending it at the back of the noodle shop, that was all.
Just then, the loud crash of the gong had rang throughout the area.
Tigress groaned, "Is it time already?"
..Looks like her time spent in the back of the noodle shack will have to wait.
"TIME FOR THE CEREMONIAL DRAGON WARRIOR GIFT TO BE PRESENTED!" A goat had announced shrilly at the crowd…..which caused everyone to hold their ears in pain.
Po's ears however, had perked up at the announcement.
"A Ceremonial Dragon Warrior Gift? For the Dragon Warrior? Which is ME? OH BOY OH BOY!" He exclaimed giddily while running toward the front where the goat was.
"Oh man! Where's the gift Mister goat?1" Po asked the announcer.
"I AM A WOMAN." The goat announced at Po…who sweat-dropped.
"Oh….My bad….sorr-"
"BUT, IF YOU MUST KNOW, THE GIFT WILL BE PRESENTED BY WHOEVER WAS CHOSEN FOR THE ASSIGNMENT."
"Oh..okay…is that like, how you always talk?" Po asked.
"YES, IT'S A BIRTH DEFECT."
"Oh, sorry to hear that- WAIT, so who's the one who was assigned with the gift?"
The whole area went quiet, as everyone looked around each other to see who was the presenter of the Dragon Warrior Gift.
Po looked around eagerly to see who it was as well.
"*sigh* Here I go.." Tigress muttered before taking a step out of the crowd.
Po took notice of this and grinned happily, "Oh TIGRESS! Great! You can help me look for whoever is presenting the gift to me!"
Shifu groaned aloud at this.
"Master, you should get some tea for that.." Po advised.
"Just take your gift you IDIOT!" he shouted back.
"Huh?" Po turned to Tigress who had a package held out at him.
"WHOA…..YOU'RE the presenter?" he gasped.
"Indeed I am.." she rolled her eyes, "I've been holding this package at you for the past five minutes."
"Oh…"
Po took the package out of her hands and began to unwrap it.
Tigress made her way past Shifu.
"I hope he enjoys his surprise Master Tigress…where are you going?" he asked the retreating feline form.
"OH MAN! LOOK AT THIS AWESOME GIFT SHE GOT ME! WOW! OHMAHGARSH, MASTER TIGRESS GOT ME A GIFT, I'LL TREASURE IT FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER-" Po's voice rang throughout the area.
"I'm going to get me some tea.." was all Master Shifu heard Tigress state before she walked into the noodle shop.
"…Uhh…allow me to join you.." he stuttered before running into the shop after her.
That night during the Winter Festival, Po had made it known to all that he treasured the gift that Master Tigress had gotten him…
…which was a Kung Fu Panda 2 DVD and Blu Ray set.
"-AND the BEST thing about it is that I don't even KNOW what a DVD is!" Po announced at the table of guests that were miserable with his excited ramblings.
He didn't notice of course, because he was too happy.