Chapter 2: Help Is A Matter Of Opinion

Tigress and Po were entering the Training Hall where Master Shifu was waiting for them patiently, and his facial features showed it. He looked calm and content, he even held a soft smile as he watched the two slip nervously into the building.

"Po. Tigress.", he gently nodded to each of them slightly with his arms behind his back, Oogway's old staff standing upright behind him. If it weren't for his smile, if he had his usual frown and furrowed brow like every other day, he might look like he was about to be burned to the stake at this position. But this didn't stop Po from feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"What's with him? Is he trying to maintain his cool until he kills us for being late?" he whispered in Tigress' ear with his mouth behind his paw. The feeling of his breath on her ear sent a happy shiver down her spine, though she tried her best to maintain her composure and replied in a hushed tone.

"I do not know. He usually has a dagger-like expression in his eyes when he is mad, even if he is smiling. But his eyes look too soft to hold any malice." Shifu's ear twitched slightly as he could hear every word they were saying. He decided to ignore it as he walked up to the two with the same expression as before, making Po even more uncomfortable as he subtly tried to inch his way behind Tigress to use her as a shield. Tigress simply laughed a little inside at his nervousness and bowed to her master.

"My apologies, Master Shifu. I was the reason we were late. I needed to speak with Po about a private matter." Po raised an eyebrow. She was trying to take all the heat? Well two can play at that game. Po stepped beside her and bowed to Shifu as well, slightly lower than the feline had just now.

"But it was mostly my fault master, I kept the conversation going for too long. I'm sorry."

Shifu looked at the two and chuckled a bit, "It is alright. Just make up the time you have lost by training a little longer tonight." He then turned his back on the tiger and panda, who looked at each other with disbelieving faces. Po was almost tempted to grab the red panda by the collar of his robe and shake him yelling, 'Who are you and what have you done with Master Shifu?', but he decided he liked the use of his limbs more than the simple joke. So he walked further into the Training Hall to start on the fire pit as Tigress made her way to the wooden dummies. Today was the day that he attempted to copy Master Viper's moves in an attempt to further his excellence in his own style. It was suggested by Master Shifu, saying that if he acquired the most positive attributes of the Furious Five and combined them with his own natural ability for Kung Fu, that one day he would be a truly unstoppable force of nature.

As Po walked towards the fire pit with more than a few butterflies in his stomach, he turned to his left to watch Tigress pounding the wooden dummies to dust. After a few moments of feeling the panda's eyes on her form, the tiger glanced in confirmation to find that Po had indeed been staring at her. Which in turn caused her to turn a slight shade of pink. This did not go unnoticed by Po, who had long ago begun to notice Tigress' subtle and almost unreadable signs of emotion.

The Dragon Warrior looked back at the fire pit determinedly and met Master Viper in the middle. And they bowed to each other in the traditional sign of great respect in a Kung Fu spar.

"Are you ready to gain some more black fur, brother?" said Viper, smiling as she got into her fighting stance.

"Just call me Panther Po!" he smirked in response and got into his own somewhat unrefined stance.

Tigress giggled a little at his joke as she pictured Po in all black fur. Shifu raised an eyebrow, not looking at his adoptive daughter so as not to draw attention to her. He was in fact watching Po and Viper, who were sparring around the disappearing and reappearing pillars of flame with a great speed about them. Po had become faster than anyone had expected him to, though it was unsurprising after Master Shifu had punished the panda for relentlessly asking the master for answers of how to move at supersonic speeds and the like. Curiosity was one thing for someone who had just achieved Inner Peace as to learn more of the state's secrets. But the giant panda had asked for it one thousand, six hundred and eighty two times too much.

Before Po knew it, he had been assigned to get up an hour before the gong rang every morning and walk down the Jade Palace steps with two buckets filled with rocks hanging from a staff and return to the barracks before the gong rang, with all of the stones still there. Shifu would count each one of them before Po could go and make breakfast. At first, Po would get extremely tired and by the time dinner came around he would either end up with his face to the floor or his face in his soup. The latter had annoyed the others as they tried their best to swipe the bowl away before he could splash it on them, but Tigress wouldn't have it. After asking her about it she would always mumble something about 'the soup is better than the hard wood table.'

After a week or so though, Po had started to get used to it. Sure he was still exhausted every day, but it didn't hurt as much to run up the steps every morning and he always felt lighter on his feet afterwards, especially when he was in front of his nice comfortable bed. But nonetheless he was making progress.

And he showed it.

He and Viper now spun, flipped, slid, blocked, and smacked at each other in a blur, neither one of them ceasing their onslaught as each and every attack was blocked or dodged, dodged more so in Viper's case. The match was soon a spectacle as everyone else had stopped what they were doing to watch in amazement.

Mantis, being the fastest of the Five in comparison to size, could easily track their movements, though he was still in awe of their moves combined with the dangerous effects of the pyrotechnics.

Crane was astonished, but he was drooling slightly as well, as he watched as much as he could to see his favorite green blur dancing among the flames.

Monkey was simply balancing on his tail to try and get a better view.

And Tigress, she just stood there with her arms crossed, a scowl of aggravation spread across her face as she watched the two in their motions, easily following every move they made.

Shifu soon made his way from the steps of the higher level that surrounded the Training Hall to stand beside his daughter. But after seeing the look on her face, he couldn't help but stop smiling in confusion. After a few minutes of contemplation, he returned his gaze to the green and gray blurs amongst the inferno.

"It seems as though Po has finally mastered Viper's Style.", he said, looking around at the others who were glancing at him in recognition of his voice, but keeping an eye on the battle. Everyone was eager to see who would win, but Shifu's thoughts stayed on the question of who's style should Po challenge next?

His thoughts were interrupted however, as the green blur was thrown out of the pit and into the Adversary; Viper's body barely missing his face as he could feel the heat from her scales burning his whiskers. He looked over at Viper, who was now being helped up by Crane. Then he looked over at Po, who was walking wearily out of the pit. He was out of breath, wheezing from the smoke and heat, and limping from the strain he had put on his leg. He had obviously overextended it to fling Viper out of the pit while keeping her from hitting any flames.

Po collapsed in front of his master after trying to bow in respect, only to lose his balance. The red panda looked at the Dragon Warrior for a moment before mumbling out a gruff 'good job', and turned to walk out of the training hall to meditate. Tigress watched her master and father walk out before looking down at Po, her hands to her sides as she eyed him with a small sense of amusement.

The panda looked up at her, curious as to why she had such an expression as he sat up,

"What?", Po said as he looked at the tiger.

Tigress merely laughed softly, "Po?", she said as she licked her thumb.

"Yeah?", he raised a brow.

"You are no longer at level zero.", she tried to hold in a giggle to no avail as she put out the small flame that had rested on top of his head.

Po let out the very laugh that she found so endearing and before she could stop herself, she found herself laughing with him as the joyful disease spread to everyone else in the training hall.

With Master Shifu

Meanwhile, Master Shifu was beginning to meditate in front of the shrine to Master Oogway. The candles that stood under the wall hanging of the graceful and wise turtle created a magical glow to the red panda's already experienced and pondering expression.

He sighed after a few minutes as he let his Inner Peace take over, immediately allowing his meditating to improve as he searched his own mind. Thankfully, he thought, no evil has yet to show it's face in the Valley of Peace since Lord Shen's demise. But that was not a guarantee for the future. They had to be ready. With all of the teachings at their disposal, and with his natural ability for learning Kung Fu, Po would be an outstanding warrior given time. But time is not something one always has at their disposal. And even with Inner Peace, Master Shifu felt uneasy at the suddenly peaceful state of the Valley of...erm...Peace. No thief, nor bloodthirsty maniac, nor even a bandit had reared it's ugly head anywhere near the Valley. So now he was meditating. To search for the best possible course of action in the teachings of the Dragon Warrior, not to mention any shortcomings that the Furious Five were showing lately. The Grandmaster breathed in slowly, then out slowly.

In The Mental Plane

Shifu stood in utter blackness before waving a paw in front of him as the Five appeared, standing in attention looking as perfect as they had always been. Except for Tigress. She had an unusually large smile on her face. Shifu smiled as well as it was rare for him to see his daughter so happy, even if it was just in his mind. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized. He hadn't imagined her with this expression in the first place. He had imagined her with her normal emotionless features, which, unless his knowledge of meditation and it's laws were slipping, was how his mind should have perceived her. He shrugged this off as a plot by his subconscious to see his daughter happy and continued his contemplating.

"Now then. The Dragon Warrior has already mastered two styles along with his own." said Shifu, who had now brought up the image of the goofy panda in front of him like the others and waved his paw dismissively as the images of Mantis and Viper disappeared. He then waved his paw over Po, who then started performing a form that mimicked his style, but showed much more perfection in the areas of flexibility and acrobatics thanks to Viper, as well as speed and precision thanks to Mantis. Po then stopped moving as Master Shifu raised his paw again and turned to the three that remained of the Furious Five. He looked over them; studied them, while repeatingly glancing back at the Dragon Warrior. What did his form need most now? He was almost perfect in the areas of flexibility, precision, and his innate ability to improvise whenever needed. But Master Shifu knew that the physical aspects of his training, while important, was not the only factor in this formula to create the perfect warrior.

Po had been picking up a few personality traits as well while spending so much individual time with each of the Furious Five. Unfortunately, he had picked up an even more annoying sense of humor from Mantis. Shifu had expected this, and for that reason he wanted Po to train with him first, in the hopes that Mantis' inappropriate humor would be either forgotten by Po or it would be beaten out of him.

A wise choice to then choose Viper as his next instructor, as her polite attitude and cheerful demeanor was already rubbing off on the panda. He no longer ate as fast or as noisily, and he was even using a napkin!

Master Shifu chuckled to himself before turning to the three once more.

Monkey. The good-humored weapons master of the Furious Five. He would be a good choice, but his urge to prank might be too much for Po to handle right now. Perhaps after the next instructor he might be mature enough to resist these temptations.

Crane, the avian trainer of the Kung Fu family, was a good warrior. He held grace, speed, and the ability to swat away any defense. But his intelligence could prove to be an annoyance. While he could teach Po many things, his innate urge to assassinate people with a barrage of information would probably put Po in the fetal position on the floor of the Training Hall, trying to figure out why his brain hurt. Best to match him with Crane after he's learned to focus on the task at hand.

Then he looked at Tigress. The closest thing to a perfect warrior that China had ever seen. She had maturity, grace, politeness, strength, flexibility, determination, and the senses of a true predator. But she had many faults as well. She was very proud, as are most tigers. Quick to anger, stubborn, and distant. But she and the Dragon Warrior had been spending a lot more time together lately, and her pride did not become as obvious these days. Her temper was still great, but she was biting her tongue lately, at least in front of Po. The tiger would always be stubborn. She was too stubborn to stop being stubborn. And she acted much less distant when she was around…Po.

Sudden realization entered Shifu's mind as images flashed before him of the Dragon Warrior and the Master of the Tiger style spending time together. The memories pieced together rapidly and it struck him like a hammer.

She was falling in love.

"Of course!", he said in satisfaction as his mind now had closure of the problems that had clouded in the back of his head, "To Tigress, fighting with Po was the only way she used to connect with him emotionally. So when Viper and Po began sparring earlier she must have grown jealous at their fluid motions." he laughed, then looked at his daughter and pupil with a smile, her own smile still gracing her features as she still stood in attention alone with the master.

"Oh, my daughter. I am so happy for you. I only pray that your love is returned tenfold by the Dragon Warrior."

Back to reality

Shifu opened his eyes and sighed before standing up, Oogway's staff in paw. He looked up at the wall hanging and smiled with a bow, "Thank you Master, for choosing Po. He has brought more happiness than anyone could have ever predicted.", and with that he decided to take a stroll through the gardens of the palace.

The Training Hall

The Dragon Warrior stood up with Tigress' help after the laughter died down, and faced Master Viper before respectfully bowing to her, in which she did the same. His smile then vanished as he groaned, rubbing his left side.

"Damn. Viper, you could've picked a different spot besides my ribs.", he laughed softly, followed by another groan.

"Po, what's wrong?" said Tigress, a bit of panic in her voice.

"I-I'm okay, I just need to rest." he began to limp out of the training hall, but soon felt a warm paw on his shoulder. He turned to see Tigress putting his right arm around her shoulders before helping him walk out. Her sudden compassion made him blush a little, causing him to quickly look down on the ground as Tigress led them to the barracks.

She led Po to his room, helped him sit down on the bed, and was about to leave when she felt something inside her telling her to stay. Tigress turned to look at Po, who was turning a bit pale, she could tell by the lightheaded look in his eyes.

"Are you okay, Po?" her soft voice filled his ears, causing him to look up at her. A look of concern covered her face as she walked a little closer to him, putting her paw over his own and looking him in the eyes. He smiled wide at her gesture and nodded.

"I'm alright, Tigress. I just need some rest.", he laid down on his cot and sighed to himself. She eyed him for a moment before she herself nodded. Tigress then sat down in a meditative position, and showed no signs of getting up from the floor of his room. Po darted his eyes to her, and his eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Uhhhh, Tigress? Did you need anything else?" his words stung her as she flattened her ears and began to stand up as her voice turned emotionless, albeit a little hurt.

"I am sorry, Dragon Warrior. I was hoping to be of some help to you in your recovery, but I guess I was wrong." she started to turn around until she felt his paw on her leg, making her go rigid for a moment and show a look of shock. Normally his actions would earn him a swift smack in the face, but she knew that he'd been training hard and showed him mercy.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! That came out so very freakin wrong Tigress, I'm sorry!", her cool composure returned, but she let out a small smile when she turned to face him once more.

"It's alright, I know you don't need any help. I was just...",she trailed off, trying to think of a way to finish her sentence without saying something embarrassing. To her surprise, her somewhat grateful surprise, he said something that she knew made him feel just as embarrassed as her, if not more.

"Tigress.." he mumbled and twiddled his fingers,"D'you mind, I dunno...staying here with me tonight?"

His words caused him to blush a complete maroon now as he looked at his floor, wishing that he could shrink a thousand times smaller than Mantis. Suffice to say he looked nervous. Very nervous

Tigress was blushing as well, and hard. Luckily for her, her orange fur allowed her at least a little cover from this embarrassing expression. She smiled and knelt down to meet his gaze to show him that she was not at all angry at his request, "Of course."

Po smiled. But it wasn't his normal goofy smile that always made her let her barriers down. It was a smile of relief and contentment. He scooted to one side of the bed as much as he could to give her as considerably ample amount of room as possible before she laid down with her back turned to him. To some, this positioning would have made for a hurtful gesture to be seen as an act of pity. But to Po. He knew that even though the strides she had made to letting her guard down were great, but she was still Tigress. And he was more than happy that she was even considering his wish as he closed his eyes with that same smile on his face.

Tigress was expecting this to feel uncomfortable and awkward. But for some reason it just felt right. Like being in such a close proximity to this panda was going to steady her quick moving heart, which was always ready to dodge any signs of closeness. But her heart wasn't the real reason that she had decided to lie there with her back to him. She would have loved to have fallen asleep just staring into his drooping eyes and sweet grin. But her own expression wouldn't allow it. Her face was one of excitement and bliss, not to mention how much she was smiling and blushing; but she didn't want him to see that look. Not yet.

But before she could even try to settle her heart rate down and fall asleep, his paw laid over her body across her waist. She blushed even more and spoke quietly. Tigress cleared her throat so softly that she imitated herself from his hug at Gongmen Harbor.

"Uhhhhmmm...Po?", she then heard a soft snore echo throughout the small room. The tiger turned her head slightly to look at him and smiled, scooting closer to him as she rested her head back against his chest and slowly fell asleep.