Chapter 4: 'Can We Be Friends?'

Hey guys, how is it hanging? This is my most requested story and every time I turn around I'm getting asked about it. I know this story got abandoned at an early age, but rest assured that I will not forget it. Come Hell or high water, I will finish this story.

I do not own Kung-Fu Panda.- Disclaimer

"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just be my friend and walk beside me." – Albert Camus.

The school day had finished and all the students were leaving, our six heroes were grouping up in the courtyard of the school. They were causally talking about their first day at the school when Po walked up with Tigress and Mantis tagging along beside him.

"So how'd all your classes go guys?" Po asked before setting his bag down.

"They aren't Kung-Fu classes, but I can get used to them." Viper giggled.

"I loved the calligraphy class." Crane chimed in.

"Cooking with Po was great; he really knows how to cook!" Monkey said as Mantis jumped onto Monkeys shoulder agreeing with the primate.

"The only thing I learned today is that girls in this school are stuck up and guys just try to be as rude as they can to each other." Tigress huffed from the back of the back.

"Yeah…" Po sighed. "Welcome to my life, I'm always getting told I'm worthless, getting beat up and pushed around, and then if it isn't enough… the girls tell me that no one will ever love a fat panda."

No one could respond to what Po had just said, even Tigress stood there with her mouth agape. This panda truly knew what it had meant to be alone in live and live on the outside as an outcast.

Po shook himself out of his daze and self-pity to look up and see the Five staring at him. The panda shot them all a toothy grin to let them know that he was all right.

"I better get going, dad will be wondering where I'm at." Po said putting on his rug sack. "I hope I see you all tomorrow." Po then turned and walked off from the group and Tigress thought for sure, she had seen tears in his eyes.

"Come on Tigress let's get back up to the palace. Shifu will be waiting for us." Viper said tugging at the tiger's slacks.

Tigress was watching the panda walk away. His head was lowered and his body language showed that he was definitely upset. This is exactly what she was talking about this prissy teens do nothing but bring others down, but Po had dealt with it longer than she had, hell; longer than anyone she had known. People could be so cruel to their kind.

"No, let Shifu known I'll be late." Tigress said to the rest of the group, picked up her bag and ran off to catch up to the panda.

Po was silently chastising himself for letting his emotions get the better of himself in front of the Five. How could he act so childishly in front of his idols? But before he could go any farther he heard a female voice calling his name from behind him. Po turned around to see Tigress chasing him down.

"Wait up panda! I want to speak with you." Tigress said as she stood next to him.

Po had to quickly wipe away the water forming in his eyes, before he nodded. "Let's go to my dad's noddle shop, it will be easier to talk there."

"Sure lead the way." Tigress said to which Po chuckled a bit as he wiped his face on his arm.

"I always tell my friends to walk beside me, not to follow me." Po said as the tiger was baffled at him calling her a friend.

Soon they made it into the noodle shop, it wasn't busy at the moment, but it never was when Po got home from school. His dad always allowed Po a couple hours to relax and eat a snack after school, before the dinner rush came. Upon seeing Tigress walk in with Po he cleared off a table for the two to sit at.

"Hello Po, have a good day at school?" Mr. Ping asked as he wiped off a table.

"Hi dad, it was good." Po said as he through his bag down in the corner.

"Oh, Po where is your manners? Who is your friend?" Mr. Ping asked gesturing to Tigress.

"Oh that's Tigress, she is the leader of the Furious Five!" Po said excitedly.

"Oh is that so?" Mr. Ping said as he headed back to the kitchen. "You too must be hungry for a snack. Po, could you come and help me for a second."

"Sure thing dad!" Po hollered after the goose. "Tigress you can take a seat, I'll be right back." Po ran to the kitchen leaving Tigress at the table.

"Po you could have told me you were bringing someone back! I could have my secret ingredient soup for you both." The goose said as he attended to some cooking food.

"Sorry dad, she kind of just tagged along." Po chuckled as he grabbed some food for him and Tigress.

"So you have girls following you back from school now?" Mr. Ping said eyeing his son.

"Haha, dad, very funny." Po said filling a bowl of dumplings. "She is just a friend."

"A cute friend." Mr. Ping pushed on.

Po nearly dropped the food when he heard his dad say that. His face began to turn red and before his dad could say anything else embarrassing, he left the kitchen.

"Thanks for the food Po." Tigress said as he sat the bowl down in between them. She noticed the redness in Po's face and proceeded to ask him a question. "Was it hot in the kitchen? Your face is all red."

"N-no. Just something my dad said." Po said as his face continued to get hotter as his blush deepened.

Tigress eyed him momentarily, knowing that he had just lied to her. But she just decided to blow it off; it wasn't any of her business.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Po said as he began to dig into the dumplings. This caused Tigress to chuckled at the hunched over panda eating out of the bowl, inside her head of course.

"I know it's not really my place to ask but, how did Mr. Ping adopt you?" Tigress asked, taking a dumpling herself. Po quickly quieted her with wide eyes and a finger over his mouth, and when Tigress shot him a questioning look he explained.

"He doesn't know that I know I'm adopted." Po said quietly.

"But it's so obvious." Tigress said in a whisper back to Po.

"I know it is, dad might be good at making noodles but he isn't really the smartest tool in the shed." Po whispered letting a small grow across his face, the smile then passed to Tigress, but it was very faint on the tiger.

"All I know is that dad found me and then decided to adopt me." Po said going back to the dumplings. "What about you? I don't see any tigers walking around here."

"I was at Bao Gu Orphanage when Shifu adopted me." Tigress said vaguely not looking at Po. "Shifu kept coming to the orphanage to help me control my anger, then one day he told me I was coming with him to live at the Jade Palace."

"Wow that is like right out of one of those children stories that my dad always talked about; so is Shifu your dad?"

"Technically." Tigress huffed out.

"That's soooo cool! Your dad is like one of the best Kung Fu masters!" Po said getting excited.

"He doesn't act like a dad." Tigress said with a scowl. "All he talks about is I will get the Dragon Warrior title and that I need to follow in his paw steps."

"Maybe he just wants you to be a really good master one day! He probably doesn't mean to be… well, mean." Po said standing up and putting a paw on her shoulder. This caused Tigress to flinch; no one has touched her in such a caring way since… since Shifu adopted her. She was about to push him off her and hit him for that when he realized what he was doing. Po quickly jumped back trying to avoid her piercing amber eyes.

"Sorry." The panda squeaked out.

Tigress only shook her head dismissing the whole thing, and then decided to change the subject. "So how do you know so much about us, the Five I mean?"

Po thought for a second before he spoke then looked up to where his room was. Then he decided he could show her without her laughing at him. "Come on I'll show you." Po waved his hand for Tigress to follow him into the kitchen where she had to duck down to avoid hitting her head, she couldn't believe the panda worked in this kitchen, her back was already beginning to hurt from the weird position. She followed the panda to the back and up a flight of creaky stairs that she thought was going to break under his weight.

As they passed through the hallway and into a room she saw a room filled with Kung-Fu memorabilia. Most of it was about the Furious Five and their accomplishments. There was also a rack of near identical weapons they used up at the Jade Palace and in the corner of the room was a small area dedicated to her. There were pictures all over the walls of masters and the Jade Palace.

"Is this all yours, Po?" Tigress asked concentrating on a shelf of expertly crafted action figures of her and the Five.

"Yeah, I'm a huge fan of the Furious Five and Kung- Fu history. Any chance I get to learn about Kung-Fu or about you guys, I soak it up."

Tigress was in awe of the room and the action figures just looked so real. Tigress reached out to grab on of the figures, but looked over to Po for approval. The panda merely nodded and smiled towards her. Tigress reached out and grabbed the action figure of her the joints moved so that you could make different poses. Her attire was right and so was her fur, but the thing that got the most attention was that her face was very serious.

"You like that one?" Po said coming to stand next to her as she studied the figure. "Probably one of the better ones I ever made." That last sentence made Tigress look at the panda with amazement.

"You… you made this? All of these?" Tigress asked gesturing to the action figure.

"Yeah… well I used to." Po said picking one of the figures up as well and looking into its eyes.

"Used to?" Tigress asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yeah." Po sighed and then walked over to his bed and got down on his knees and pulled out a box from underneath the bed. "I used to make them for people who wanted them of you guys. I made a little money off making them too, but then people like Tai-Lung got jealous and started harassing me. They took my action figures and broke them when they could. All the ones I had made for people that wanted one, all my orders, Tai-Lung and his goons took them and destroyed them whenever they could. Soon I had to stop taking orders because I wasn't able to make them fast enough to replace the destroyed them."

Tigress stared at the panda in empathy. Then Po set a box of destroyed action figures in front of her. There were a bunch of her and the Five, along with some other Kung-Fu masters and they were all beyond repairable. Then she was doubly surprised when Po went to a closet and pulled an even larger box of broken figures out.

"I keep these hoping one day I can repair some hopefully, but I'm doubtful on most of them."

"These are amazing Po, even if they are broken. They look like they're professionally made."

"Thanks, you're the only one right now that likes them."

Tigress smiled softly at him, and then a burning question hit her brain. "Po, there are a lot of actions figures of me, why is that?"

Po's cheeks blushed again as he picked up a figure of Tigress, one of the broken ones.

"Ever since you guys were released to the public as the Furious Five, you five have been my idols. You guys represented courage, bravery, and justice; things that I never had." Po then put the broken figure back in the box and placed the boxes back in their respective places.

"So where does that place me?" Tigress questioned as Po stood back up.

"You're my favorite." Po smiled as Tigress showed shook. "You were and still are my favorite idol, I wished on ever star that one day I could be like you. And imagine my surprise when my favorite person in the world wants my help around my school."

"Probably pretty surprised." Tigress chuckled.

"Super awesome totally floored surprised!" Po yelled waving his paws in the air.

Tigress was about to laugh at the panda when she turning and looked out the window and saw the sun. Her eyes widened when she noticed the time.

"Po it has been fun talking, but I need to go!" Tigress started heading towards the window.

"Wait Tigress!" Po said reaching for her.

"Panda I really need to go, Shifu is going to kill me."

"One more thing, something that I've waited to ask for a very long time." Po said almost begging the tiger.

Tigress took one look at the window, she knew she had to leave and head back to the palace. But then something inside her made her turn back to the panda, something made her want to listen to Po.

"Ok, but hurry."

"Will you be my friend, but… not like an acquaintance, like a true friend someone I can count on?" Po asked with hope in his eyes.

Tigress had never had a true friend; sure she had friends at the Jade Palace with the rest of the Five, but no one to tell secrets to, no one to truly believe in, no one to receive support from. This could be the start of a great friendship, one she craved. All she would have to do is let go a little and open up.

Tigress just smiled, narrowed her eyes, and nodded. Then she jumped out the window and headed back to the Jade Palace. Po's jade eyes followed her out the window watching her jump from roof top to roof top.

The giant panda smiled to himself then whispered, "See you tomorrow."

And now Po and Tigress have agreed to be friends, I wonder where this going to lead to next? I'm going to do a couple song-fics then I will write another chapter for this. The next chapter for this might skip ahead a week or two. I hope you all like it very much.

Please review! MrSimba593 Over and Out!