In the end, both kung fu masters had to be carted out of the noodle shop to the village hospital, where they were treated for massive heartburn from the spicy food and bloating from drinking the entire contents of their water barrels. At first they had been placed in a large open room with other sick people, but when Po farted and sent the occupants into cardiac arrest it was unanimously agreed that they should be moved to smaller, more isolated quarters.
The new room was cheerily decorated with portraits of brightly colored wild flowers, white lacy curtains, soft yellow polka dot blankets... and cramped into the space the size of a hallway. The beds were practically touching, so close together that the person lying on one could literally reach over and smack the other person upside the head.
Tigress did so.
"Panda, I blame you," she grumbled. They were seated upright to let gravity help keep their food down.
"Hey!" Po countered, "You could've stopped eating at any time." He smirked. "I wouldn't have thought any less of you."
"HA!" she rolled her eyes. "Big talk from a guy that choked on his first bite. You're lucky your father was there to pound your back and help you swallow."
"That's because I ate it too fast, not because I couldn't handle the heat!" he protested.
"You were sweating like a pig."
"At least I wasn't crying like a baby!"
"I wasn't crying!" Tigress replied adamantly. "The smell of the chili was making my eyes water! I swear, the sauce alone could peel dried paint off a wall..."
"My gan guo does have a nice kick to it." Po nodded thoughtfully. "I guess I could've added more celery."
"If you wanted a kick, you could've just asked nicely and saved us all this trouble!"
"That wouldn't have been half as much fun, though."
"Fun? This is fun for you? You could pour lava on my tongue right now and I wouldn't feel a thing. I don't even want to think about when I'll have to go to the bathroom later... I'll need to wipe myself with a snow cone."
Po grinned. "You're not even a little proud of yourself? You hung in there with me, The Panda with the Iron Stomach! Those are some serious bragging rights, you know."
"Ugh," Tigress rolled her eyes. "I'd trade bragging rights for a time machine at this point, so I can go back 30 minutes and tell myself: DON'T!"
"That'd be so cool!" Po's face lit up. "Imagine if you really had one? I'd want to go back in time to when all my favorite heroes were in their prime, and watch them fight their legendary battles in person!"
He punched the air in front of him until the sudden movement gave him a stomach cramp and he howled in pain.
Tigress started to laugh at him until the action gave her a cramp of her own. She groaned and leaned back against her fluffy pillows.
They both sat quiet for a while, nursing their poor swollen bellies. As she shifted to a better position, Tigress felt something fall out of her pocket and towards the gap between the beds. Before she could react, Po's hand flashed out and caught it. He brought it up to see Bao-Jia's locket.
"You still have your mom's picture?" he asked as he returned it to Tigress. "I thought you gave it back when you went to talk to your dad?"
"He let me keep it," was all Tigress said on the matter, putting it away again.
"You know... I've never seen your baby pictures," Po said thoughtfully. "You should ask your dad for them."
Tigress shook her head. "I don't think they had time to make any. It was a very hectic day when I was born."
"Every parent has pictures of their kids," Po insisted. "It's like, almost a law or something... Ooo!" He clasped his hands eagerly. "We could use the time machine! I bet you were really cute as a baby. Especially wearing those tiny pink booties!"
"I don't think so."
"Aweh, come on! Why not?"
"Because we don't have a time machine."
"...Oh yeah, huh?" His enthusiasm deflated. "Guess I got carried away."
Tigress turned her head away, mumbling under her breath. "I wouldn't look good in pink anyway."
Po heard her. "That's not true! I bet you'd look great in it. I mean, I know you like being tough, but you can still kick butt while being girly."
"Would you... like me better if I was?" she asked, still not looking at him. "Girly, I mean?"
Po realized his mistake and immediately backpedaled. "What?! No, I didn't- I didn't mean it like that..." His face fell as he looked down at his belly and started twiddling his thumbs. "I already think you're totally amazing! Even before I met you and the Furious Five in person, you were always my favorite kung fu master..."
Tigress peeked sideways at him. There it was again. That sad look she sometimes saw on Po's face after she'd gotten mad at him over something silly. This wasn't how she wanted her last day with him to end. Swallowing her pride and mustering up her courage, Tigress reached over and touched Po's shoulder.
"Thanks for spending the day with me, Po." He turned and looked surprised at her. "You're right. Today was... fun."
"To be honest, I hadn't expected you to invite me." He grinned sheepishly. "But, I'm really happy you did. I should've said this earlier but," he reached a shaky hand up to place it atop the one on his shoulder, "I do treasure you." He dared to give it a little squeeze. "A lot."
Tigress wasn't sure what happened next. At first, she thought her heartburn was acting up again. She started feeling tingly all over. Then it was as if time had slowed down to a crawl and she was floating inside her own mind, no longer in control of her body. Her face started gravitating towards Po's, her heart was hammering, and there was a rushing sound in her ears, like beating wings.
Po didn't move. He didn't dare. He half expected this to be another of his daydreams, though he wasn't being suave, confident, or taking the initiative like he normally did in these situations. The real thing was much more nerve-racking
When Tigress's lips finally found his, her touch was a light as a butterfly, yet somehow managed to burn so hot Po feared his lips might melt right off. It wasn't as if he'd never kissed or been kissed before. There was Superintendent's Woo's daughter (though that had been a misunderstanding), the thief from the dancing troupe (that one had been on the cheek), and even the apple-cart duck's wife (he'd been under the influence of Taotie's evil Sphere of Unerringly Accurate Acupressure Machine at the time), but this was the first kiss that mattered. The first kiss with someone who mattered.
When the kiss ended and Tigress finally came back into her own body, she found herself gazing into Po's big green eyes. She wanted to look away, but couldn't. Instantly her brain switched on and began badgering her with admonishments. What was wrong with her? Why had she done that? Where had her senses flown? How could she have let herself get carried away by the moment? She braced herself for the emotional onslaught she knew should follow: the embarrassment, awkwardness, and self-deprecation.
Instead, she was surprised that the only feeling to come over her was... the desire to kiss him again.
Po must have felt it, too. He was smiling hugely and clutching her hand on his shoulder tightly. Without a word exchanged between them, Tigress and Po began to lean into each other once more.
Then the door to their room burst open.
"Are you guys okay?" Viper asked worriedly as she slithered in. "We came as soon as we heard you two had been hospitalized. What happened?"
"I bet they had another fight." Crane ducked into the room after her. He stopped and noticed something was different about them. The two patients were sitting on opposite ends of their beds, as far apart from each other as possible. He looked Po over first, and then switched to Tigress, tilting his head to observe her at different angles. "Did you... gain weight?"
Viper smacked him atop his head with her tail. "Crane!" she hissed. "That was rude. You should never comment about a woman's weight."
Monkey and Mantis entered behind them, crowding their tiny space even further. The smaller kung fu master leaped up onto Po's bed and eyed them both suspiciously. "Hey... how come your faces are so red?"
Tigress's only response was to glare at him. Luckily, they were saved from having to answer when Master Shifu entered the room, using his staff to part his gaggle of inquisitive students. "I just heard everything from the nurses. Apparently these two hot heads decided to have a chili eating contest. I expect this kind of nonsensical behavior from Po, but... what were you thinking, Tigress?"
"Yeah," Monkey chimed in, patting his belly. "Nobody can go up against the Panda with the Iron Stomach. Even just watching him eat the way he does is enough to make people sick."
The others shivered in agreement.
Tigress crossed her arms. "Not only did I go against him, I finished before he did."
"It's true," Po contended in her defense. "Even after all I could taste was pain, she kept right on going!"
Crane and the others laughed. "Yeah, right. You don't actually expect any of us to believe that, do you?"
Po crossed his own arms now. "Pfft! We don't care if you believe us or not." He looked over at Tigress. "We had fun, right?"
She blinked at him in surprise. Then her features softened and a small smile spread across her face. "Yeah... we did."
The smile was so sincere it caught all the visitors off guard. Shifu cleared his throat. "Well, at any rate, I hope you both learned your lesson from this. Return to the palace when you've finished recovering."
Just as he turned to leave, Tigress remembered something important and stopped him. "Wait, Master! I have a request."
The bear cat's ear twitched. "Yes?"
"I, uh... I'll be bringing a guest to the Jade Palace tomorrow. So, I was hoping an extra place could be set at the table for him during breakfast?"
Shifu turned fully around. "A guest? Who is it?"
Monkey's eyes lit up and he palmed his fist. "Oh! I bet I know. You're bringing your father, right?"
Shifu and the others spun their heads to stare at him. "Who?!"
Tigress pinched the bridge of her nose. It was going to be a long story. This time it was Po's hand that touched her shoulder. He gave her an encouraging grin. "Don't worry, Master Shifu wouldn't say no. Everyone's gonna wanna want to meet him, too!"
He retracted his hand and Tigress nodded, "Yeah, you're right. Thank you, Po"
"You're welcome."
And so the two turned to face their friends, who barraged them with a million questions, tucking away the day's events to replay later in private. Tigress was glad she had managed to make one last happy memory, while Po thought it was only the first of many more.
Tragically, only one of them would be right.
(End Chapter 7)
A/N: Thanks to YouAreBeforeEverything for the idea on how to end the chili contest, Po's confession, and letting me use the line for Tigress xD Thanks to Percabeth17 for her help with Po and Tigress's dialogue. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! ^w^
