Hi! I have another christmas special! R&R!

Chapter 2: Decor and Mistletoe

It had been a week since Tigress and Po had had their 'Cocoa Wars' and they were out shopping for Christmas decor.

"So WHAT do we need again?" Tigress asked, confused, as they walked down the streets of the nearest village.

"A christmas tree and decorations. We need decorations! And who could forget a flame-less lantern for the top." Po explained and he stopped to look at a table of glass ornaments. There was one carved into an angel.

"But why do we need them?" Tigress continued and then sucked in a breath when she saw the ornaments. She picked up the angel. "So pretty..." She breathed.

"We can get it, if you want." Po offered and fished for his pocket full of yen. "And a tree is to keep us in the holiday spirit."

"Isn't it enough that Santa is coming?" Tigress growled before returning to the Angel. "So pretty..." she repeated.

"Let me buy it." Po offered again.

"For you, it's free." said the manager of the booth, a tall Rabbit with cream fur and dark, mud-stained clothes. Compared to the snow out, he looked like a black sheep in a family. It looked to Po like this one was living a hard life.

"I will pay you thirty yen." Po said and handed the man the cash. Thirty yen was enough to feed a family of six for a week. It would help him get by.

"Thank you." The rabbit breathed.

"All in the spirit of Christmas!" Po replied and he and Tigress walked on, the angel in hand. It started to snow.

"Christmas is in a week..." Tigress said slowly.

Po nodded and stopped at a soup-supply cart.

Who else was running it but Mr. Ping?

"Dad!" Po cried. Everyone knew that Mr. Ping wasn't his real dad. But Po had spent too much of his life calling him that. So he just called him 'dad'

"Po!" Mr. Ping replied and waddled away from his position as a salesman. "How are you?"

"I am good. Merry early christmas!" Po replied.

"Merry early Christmas." Tigress repeated.

"Are you two..." Mr. Ping gestured between the two of them.

"NO!" Po and Tigress cried out in unision.

"Oh... Anyway... What do you need?"

"Well, could you give me my regular supplies? I've been running low." Po asked.

"Sure!" Mr. Ping replied and he got busy.

Tigress stared down at the angel in her hand. Mayhap we should... she thought.

She was distracted when Mr. Ping clattered something loudly and returned with a basket of things. Noodles, broth, and spices.

She almost dropped the angel.

"Well, that's everything. Fifty yen." Mr. Ping sounded like a professional.

Po paid him and they left.

"Do we HAVE to get a tree?" Tigress whined.

"It would be nice..." Po trailed off.

"Fine." Tigress caved. "But only a SMALL one. I don't want to deal with pine needles again."

"Okay. But I want a topper as well..."

They returned to the Jade Palace laden with presents and decor. They set it all down in the courtyard. Po wiped the sweat that beaded along his forhead from the work. "I'm tired!" he whined and looked aound for the angel they had bought first.

"Tigress? Where's the angel?" he asked.

Tigress fished through her pockets and found it. "Right here." she replied and handed it to him.

"Good. I want you to have it. Merry christmas." Po said with a smile.

"But I don't have something from you!" Tigress exclaimed.

"I don't want anything." Po replied simply and he lit a couple of lanterns and strung them. They were green and red, the festive colors of the holidays.

Tigress walked inside and sighed. What do you give the guy who wants nothing? I have no Yen on me and I can't make anything. We don't have the necesary tools. AND, I SUCK at cooking. Tigress scowled. And then it hit her. Didn't we buy some mistletoe? I think if you and someone else are under it... You have to kiss. THAT'S my gift to him. Heaven knows why he likes me, but he likes me. LIKE likes me. I need to help him out by granting a wish. Merry Christmas, Po. She opened the rice-screen door of her room and set the Angel on her barren drawer. She stared at it for a long while before Po called her back out.

Later, Tigress was working on the inside of the Palace when Shifu came up to her. "What on earth are you doing?" he scowled.

Tigress' whiskers twitched in amusement. "Putting up Christmas decorations." she replied.

"Last time I take in a panda." Shifu hissed under his breath. "Why?"

"Because it's Christmas soon!" Tigress replied and strung line after line of ferns across the halls in criss-cross patterns.

"Christmas this, Christmas that. You know what we do each year? We train. Because the enemy expects us to be celebrating. That is where we prove them wrong. We will not abandon that custom for... CHRISTMAS!" Shifu threw his hands in the air for emphasis.

"It's good to take a break once in a while, to calm down." Tigress growled low in her throat. Her eyes glittered with fury. "Besides, we WILL practice. Just not today."

Shifu fumed in frustration and stormed off.

Po came up to Tigress. "What's up with him?" he asked.

"Shifu isn't a big... Fan of Christmas." Tigress explained. "He finds it unneccesary. This is the first year that I've celebrated Christmas. I've seen others, but..." She trailed off.

"Santa has never come?" Po asked in bewilderment.

Tigress shook her head. "Shifu leaves death-threats for good-ol' Saint Nick every year. So he never comes."

Po wanted to cry. "Lets come to my house this year on Christmas eve. Then you can have a true feeling for Christmas." Po told her. "Now go get the others. The decor's not putting up itself!" He walked off in a happy mood

Tigress only sighed and her thoughts strayed to the angel.

Finally, everything was done being set up.

Monkey sat back and admired his handywork... Which wasn't really handy. It was twisted into odd shapes and knots. "It. Looks. AWESOME!" He screeched.

Tigress cringed but said nothing. "Someone wanna light a fire and we'll place the sacs." she ordered at last.

They all ran out in different directions and pulled Silk sacs from the courtyard. They all had their names enblazoned with black thread. They set them by the... Still unlit fireplace, and stared at Tigress with pleading eyes.

"Fine." she hissed. "I'll do it. But I hope you all get coal."

They smiled at her and watched as the logs caught fire. They gave off a warm glow which added to the feeling of Holiday cheer.

But that cheer didn't last long. Shifu came in."What is going on?" He yelled. "I said take all this down!"

The Furious Five and Po 'Awwwww!'ed and stared at him with pleading eyes.

"For just once in your mediocre life, let them have fun." Po growled. He was mad. His hands were on his flabby hips and his eyes had gained a steely glint. "If you let them celebrate JUST this once, I promise we will never do it again."

Again the Five 'awwwwwwwwww'ed and pleaded for Shifu to let them.

Shifu bit his lip and almost screamed. It took every ounce of self control he had to say, "Fine. Just this once. But I want EVERYTHING down the day after Christmas and no later."

The others cheered and he stomped off.

Tigress grabbed Po and dragged him closer to the fire, right under the Mistletoe. "I just want to thank you for bringing the spirit of Christmas here. For once, we finally see what it's like. Our gift this year was you. You did all of this for us..." Tigress trailed off, unsure of how to continue. She thought of the angel.

FLASHBACK!

Tigress was in her room, holding the angel in her hands. It was completly out of clear glass and had the form of a little girl in a dress with halo and wings. She started crying. All of their work... For nothing.

Without realizing, the grip on the angel slakened and it slipped from her hands.

She watched, frozen as it fell in Slow-motion.

Last second, she swooped down and grabbed it, holding it to her face. "Po..." she whispered. "I'm so sorry." She searched the angel for damage and was frozen in place by what she saw at the bottom.

Carry my heart in your wings forevermore.

"Po..." she nuzzled the statue closer to her chest and sobbed.

PRESENT!

"Po..." Tigress breathed. "Thank you. I couldn't ask for a better Christmas."

"I only-" Po never finished that sentence; Tigress kissed him.

The other 'Awwwwwww'ed again, this time out of happiness.

Tigress released him and stepped back.

And then Po fell over.

Probably a kinda-cheesy ending, but hey. It's a romance story. I may bump the rating, but I'm not sure. R&R! Please! Your reviews mean the world!