Black, white, and orange vibrantly danced with sparks of gold. Po and Tigress were sparring. Po lunged forward, his eyes glowing a soft gold. Tigress grabbed his first and and flipped him over. The spark of gold quickly vanished. "Again, Po."
"Yeah, yeah." He stood to his feet and sunk down into a defensive stance.
Tigress took the hint and charged forward. She threw a flurry of punches forcing Po to take a few steps back. Po kicked at her abdomen and Tigress flipped over, landing behind him. Po spun around and punched at her again. Tigress furrowed her brows, grabbed his arm, and flipped him over, again. "Po, what's wrong?"
Po blinked as he stared at the ceiling. He grunted as he pulled himself to his feet. "Nothing, Tigress, nothing. I'm fine." He put on a big smile to 'prove' his point.
"Are you sure?" her voice soaked in concern.
Po chuckled. "Yes, I'm fine." She remembers, then.
Tigress turned to the sound of snickering. Her soft expression turning to a glare. But it was Shifu, not her who spoke next. "Monkey. Mantis. Anything you would like to share?" the two immediately stopped. "Good. Everyone, I think today would be a good day to have off, considering . . . " Shifu trailed off. He knew his students understood.
The students solemnly replied, thanking their master.
Tigress turned towards Po. "Are we moving up our plans, then?"
"Yeah. Yes! I'll- uh, meet you down there." Tigress turned away, confused. They barely fought, why was he sweating?
Po watched the others leave. It was just him and Shifu now, it was safe.
Po fell to his knees and tightly grasped his stomach, "Master Shifu! It's happening again!"
Shifu was by his side in an instance. "Po, remember, take deep breaths." Po did as he was instructed and slowly let go of his stomach. "Good. But, this is problematic. Ever since your fight with Kai- when are you going to stop this?"
"I can't just stop Shifu." Po stood to his feet, "I can't ask the others, it's not an option."
"Po. You need to. That is the only way to end . . . this. What you did, that much chi. It's depleted, Po. And only the others can help."
"No! If they give too much chi then they-" Po stopped himself. He couldn't think of it.
Shifu sighed. This argument has existed ever since they first returned to the Jade Palace after Kai's defeat. When he first found out. "Po-" Shifu stopped and pondered on Po's logic. "I believe you're wrong, but if that is your wish. To keep your friends in the dark, " Po averted his gaze from Shifu to the floor. "then so be it." Shifu turned towards the door. "Now, go meditate."
"Huh? But, Master Shifu-"
Shifu put up a hand. "I will talk to Master Tigress about your 'absence' for today. And Po, actually meditate."
"But Shifu!"
"Po, this is not up for discussion!" Shifu sighed. "You need to meditate." And with that he walked out of the training hall. Once outside Shifu took a sigh of relief. He knew Po wouldn't stray from his orders. Po had seemed upset, though. What were Po's and Tigress's plans? He quickly made his way to the steps and descended them. He looked to his right to see Po ascending the stairs to the Peach Tree. He quickly recalled all the times he had went up there for guidance and the still of mind. "Tomorrow, Po, tomorrow you can get the day off." Shifu said to himself.
With that final thought he deposited into the village. He instinctively responded to greetings and scanned for any sign of Tigress. He came across the noodle shop. Of course! If she was anywhere it would be here.
Shifu walked in. He was quite surprised to see only Tigress, who was sitting at a corner table, Li, and Mr. Ping. "Ah, Master Shifu! So nice for you to drop by! What's the occasion?"
"Ah, no occasion, Mr. Ping. Just wanted to speak with Tigress."
"Well then, go ahead!" Li said moving out of the way.
Shifu walked over to the table Tigress was seated at. "Tigress, we need to talk."
"I know Shifu."
She does? But, how?
"Me and Po are taking it slow. This is just our one year anniversary, after all."
Anniversary? Well, that explains things. "No, that's not what this is about Tigress." Shifu gathered his thoughts. Today was more important than he thought. "The Dragon Warrior won't be joining you today. Why don't you go 'hang', as Monkey and Mantis would say, with the others?"
"What do you mean? Po won't be able to make it."
Tigress had an annoyed expression on her face. Not that Shifu could blame her. He was young once too. "Exactly as I said Tigress. I have sent Po to meditate. He won't be down for a few hours."
"But we planned this for weeks! I know Po wasn't up to his potential in training today but-"
"It wasn't about training today, Master Tigress."
"Then what, Master?" Tigress's ears twitched. She was obviously getting frustrated. "Po never meditates. Not unless he-" Tigress cut herself off. "Is he hurt?"
Shifu's eyes widened. "No he-" Po had warned him about this.
"You don't want to damage your relationship with her. So, please, Shifu, don't bring this up!"
Tigress cleared her throat. She was getting impatient. "Po . . . asked me not to tell you, Tigress. Confronting him, he believes, won't make things better."
"You're not going to tell me?"
"No, I can't. I made a 'pinky promise'."
Li bend down to Mr. Ping. "Is a pinky promise that strong?"
Mr. Ping quickly shushed Li and turned back to the conversation, a grim look on his face.
"Master! You can't be serious."
"You, for one, should know how serious Po handles promises." Shifu currently didn't like how this was going. He was either going to have to 'spill the beans' or direct Tigress towards Po. As for the grey area, well, it didn't exist.
"And you should know how I treat Po's safety!" Tigress took a deep breath to relax herself. After all, stress wasn't the answer. "You said he didn't want me to confront him. What about you?"
Shifu wanted to stress the point that she should. "Yes, I think that you should. But, there is no guarantee that," He sighed. Tigress had left. "he will understand" Shifu looked up at the table seeing that there was already food spread around it, a book, and what seemed to be some kind of doll. He looked back towards the ground. "Po . . . Tigress . . . all your trust. I failed you both."