The Thriller
Disclaimer: Kung Fu Panda is © 2008 DreamWorks Animation SKG
A/N: I originally intended this chapter to be released on June 25, to coincide with one year since Michael Jackson's death, as this story is dedicated to his memory, but I decided to release it early because, well…I finished it early!
At almost 11,000 words, this is – and will be – the longest chapter of this story. There was an ass-ton of ground to cover here, and I almost considered splitting it into two chapters because of its sheer length. However, I decided that cliffhangers are just a pain in the ass for everyone involved, so I gave it all in one shot. The chapters that come after this will be much more…cheerful, than this one is; there still is a good bit of humor in here, though, if you know where to look.
I decided to break up the main story with a few blurbs from the Jade Palace in between, so I hope you get a kick out of those. So go brew a nice cup of coffee, sit back and read on. Enjoy and Please Review!
http:/www. youtube .com/watch?v=zAa7z5QdL4M
Seventh Track – I'll Be There
Recorded in 1970, part of the album 'Jackson 5: Third Album'
She watched him through the rain as he approached the Dàyàn Ta – aptly enough known by locals as the Giant Wild Goose pagoda, a rather fitting name given the fact that the current ruler was, coincidentally enough, a goose. The giant panda looked up at the tall stone structure as he walked up to a guard, whispering something to him softly and walked by, leaving the man with this amused little smile on his face – she instantly recognized that smile. It was the same one she got whenever she was around him.
She understood its source. His charisma knew no bounds.
How long had it been since they had last spoken?
Four months.
Gods, could it really have been that long already? Four months, eight days, twelve hours. Not that she was counting…
Cloaked from head to toe in heavy robes so as to not alert anyone to her presence, she had been following him around the capital city for the better part of the day, watching, spying in secret – and of course, observing with no amount of surprise – at how easily he seemed to slip in and out of the humdrum roar of Cháng'ān's crowded streets.
Hopping amid street vendors to tea shops, newsstands and places of worship, he just seemed to fit in…not even calling any amount of attention to himself, although he had every right to. Were all of these people so blissfully unaware they were in the presence of the Dragon Warrior? Understandably, the city was quite diverse. Cháng'ān had long been established as the easternmost terminus of the Silk Road, a well-traveled trade route that spanned two continents and covered over four-thousand miles. People of every color and nationality came and bartered here – there were quite a few people whom she herself could not even identify; and she had visited many different places in her travels…
…She could see why Po was so comfortable here. How many pandas had she seen along the way? Dozens, perhaps even hundreds of them, of every shape and size, all here together in one city. Of course she had seen her fair share of tigers as well – perhaps she could become just as comfortable living here if the time ever came to leave the Valley of Peace.
She refocused her attention to him as he pulled down the hood of his dripping wet hunter green changshan. Astonishingly, his face had thinned quite a bit since she'd last seen him – but that cute tuff of white fur still adorned the top of the panda's head, as did the chiseled dimple on his chin. Now, true to the words of the letters he had sent her, he was getting along quite well here…and it looked like he was taking very good care of himself.
He'd sent her quite a number of messages during his stay in the capital – some of which Shifu had mercilessly torn through himself, just to make sure that Po's letters were "pure", whatever the hell that meant. She'd managed to keep the more private ones to herself…ones that actually opened her up to the panda's less-than-chaste fan-boyish fantasies he'd had of her when he was much younger, when his love for kung fu was just beginning.
He did mention he had quite a number of portraits of mine hanging on his bedroom wall…
Of course, Emperor Jin had sent word to Master Shifu of Po's whereabouts during his stay in the Imperial Palace, touring the city, quickly making ties with some of the nation's most highly regarded military figures (rumor had it that Po had promptly made friends with General Li Tao, a diplomat from the northwestern province of Yunnan, that, while acting as provisional captain of the Imperial Navy, also spent his time running a chain of fine eateries throughout the empire…Mr. Ping was understandably pleased over hearing this news, his hopes of expanding his noodle empire notwithstanding.)
He'd been making so much progress – living the dream that so few men ever got the chance to experience for themselves.
Again she reprimanded herself for not sending him a single letter since he left. It was the one promise she had made to him, yet it was her pride, and her total refusal to accompany him that left her unable to conjure up enough nerve to send him so much as a single word in what felt like an eternity.
It wasn't like she hadn't written him at all – in all honesty, she wrote a note to him almost every single day…
By the end of four months, and even along the way as she walked, she wrote to him. Almost seventy letters…
Yet she hadn't sent him a single one.
But that was why she was here now, at the tail-end of the rather long and draining story on how she had come to follow the only man she ever cared about through the wet streets of Cháng'ān…a long, draining story of an emotional breakdown in front of her Master the very night Po left – only to find that Shifu would support any decision she would come to make on this trip. A lengthy, arduous trip, which came four months after reconciling with her father, the Five, and walking almost two-hundred seventy-five hellish miles through the Devil's Mouth…
Only to timidly hide behind a veil and watch him from afar, in the pouring rain.
She shook her head slowly and heaved a heavy sigh. Five hours of wandering around behind him like some lost little puppy, searching for her way home, and yet, she still hadn't yet garnered the courage to approach him.
Fumbling awkwardly, and acting most unlike the leader of the Furious Five, Master Tigress quickly made her way out of the rain and into the pagoda, removing her soaked cloak to give it to another guard. After making her way down a long corridor (and almost missing the entrance to the worship chambers entirely) she watched the Dragon Warrior, Master Po, as he traced his fingers over one of the walls, utterly terrified, from across the impressively large candle-lit space.
The thought of how pathetic she was acting never once crossed her mind.
After years of being chased by suitors who were in no way worthy of having her, she now felt like she was the one who needed to chase him – and, perhaps ironically, she was the one who felt unworthy.
She began to grow short of breath. The room seemed to pulse and shake around her, the stone floor beneath her beginning to give way. But, with a deathly calm enveloping her being, she felt her feet move across the floor, approaching him, until she was so close to him that she could almost…reach out…and touch his shoulder—
"Those who seek out peace of mind will not often find it – you must let peace seek you."
She sighed. "However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?"
He didn't turn around just yet. "We are owners of our actions, heirs to them…"
"I think Buddha makes a good point."
Finally, he turned to her, smiling slightly. Without her cloak to conceal her figure, Po's jade green eyes looked over the female tiger's appearance; she had abandoned her usual red sleeveless vest, and in its place she wore longer-sleeved cotton robes that hugged the curves of her figure quite nicely. The deep, burning crimson red hues of the fabric perfectly complimented the color of her eyes. She still wore her black trousers, finely pressed and without a wrinkle in sight, but with the gleam of hopeful recognition shining in the feline's gorgeous amber eyes…she positively glowed.
Amazingly, he kept his calm composure. "And here I was, thinking that you assumed that religion was a waste of time."
She smiled at him. "There's more to me than you think. Just like there is more to you than I think. How long did you know–?"
He interrupted her with a good natured smirk, taking her hand and sitting her down on a bench just a stone's throw from the door. "I'm the Dragon Warrior, remember? I can see light in the darkest caves…and hear a butterfly's wing beat?" He paused. "And I saw your tail poking out from that raunchy looking cloak of yours." She swallowed hard. "And come to think of it, I saw you on the street earlier today, and in front of the Palace – with all these tigers I see walking around you'd think I wouldn't be able to spot you…"
"Nobody else noticed me…" She muttered.
"True," he acknowledged. "But how many other people know you the way I do?"
She gently ran her fingers down the side of his face. "You've changed so much, Po."
"No, not really…maybe a bit more cultured, yeah…"
They sat in silence for a few more moments before she finally worked up the nerve to ask. "Aren't you wondering why you haven't heard from me in months? Or why I came all the way out here to see you?"
He nodded. "Of course I am – but it isn't important right now. The fact is you're here, and I'd like to take you to dinner tonight."
She smirked evenly. He had changed a lot. "But, I thought you were too busy having a good time with the Emperor to have dinner with a commoner like me."
The panda almost choked on his tongue, and answered way too fast for his liking. "No. Me? Well maybe a bit – I mean NO! No no, not busy at all. I'd love to take you out tonight. I'll pick you up."
Tigress' smirk turned into a grin. "Are you going to tell me what time?"
He blinked once. Twice – and then a third time. She bit down a laugh; this was the Po she remembered so fondly. "What time is it now?"
The feline looked around, as if the answer were floating in the air. "A little past two."
"Seven?"
She nodded, smiled, leaned in towards him and then did something she hadn't done in a long, long time.
She kissed him. On the cheek. Well…he took whatever he could get.
Tigress leaned in further, so that her lips brushed against his ear, and whispered, "It's so good to see you again." She pulled back, shot him a sultry smile, and then stood up and walked away, leaving him sitting alone on the bench and looking like a complete imbecile. Wasn't she supposed to be the one going after him?
He shook his head, stood, brushed himself off and headed back to his quarters in the Imperial Palace to get ready for the evening.
Po had arrived at the inn much earlier than he'd needed to be – she supposed it was partly the panda's innate sense of punctuality that made him come so early (either that, or the Emperor wasn't keeping him as busy as he would have hoped). He didn't come right in, though…he paced outside the front of the building for a solid thirty minutes, twiddling his thumbs and talking to himself. She had to admit, drowning in her own anxiety about how this evening could turn out, she'd also gotten ready much too early. But instead of going downstairs right away, she watched him fondly from her window.
The rain had cleared away earlier that afternoon; the air had a crisp, clean bite to it as the sun perched itself low in the sky, hiding conspicuously every few moments behind wisps of pinkish-white clouds. The early evening light glinted off her window, making the raindrops on the glass twinkle like stars when he finally chose that moment to look up. Their eyes met, and she was about to feel embarrassed for staring at him…when she realized that he was the one who should've been embarrassed.
And he says I'm the one who is easy to spot…
So she smiled with a great deal more confidence than she knew she had, and he looked back down at his sandals, shuffling nervously and pacing back and forth, visibly flustered. He spared her a fleeting glance – and she laughed, which made him look even more embarrassed. Gods, she had almost forgotten how wonderful it felt to bend him to her whims.
Tigress came down to the lobby in a flourish, as if she were putting on a show for an invisible audience. She'd changed out of her heavier cotton robes and opted to wear a simple emerald green ruqun. The skirt felt strange and the silk was quite a bit tighter against her body than she would have liked, but from what Viper told her, there was something about tight clothing that seemed to make men turn their heads – and if there was going to be one night where turning Po's head would matter most – this would be it.
Aside from almost tripping over the long flowing fabric twice, admittedly, she felt sexy.
Sexy? Was Master Tigress even allowed to feel sexy? She didn't think that she'd ever felt this way before. Sexy was so much more of a feminine appeal…but for one reason or another, at that moment, she began to like the idea.
She found him standing in the foyer, under an impressive triple-height ceiling, with his hands in his pockets and his gaze panning out at the energy of the street in front of the inn. The feline prodded his shoulder lightly, and he turned around. With a warm smile she looked up at him, and he blushed and looked away from her eyes, finding a sudden interest in the floor.
"Hey, Tigress."
And then she wondered, for the very first time, if this was all a dream.
"You're early."
"I know," he shuffled his feet and stole a glance at her. "I'm pathetic. Trying to convince you that I'm spending all this time with these big hot-shot military guys, and…" She put a finger to his lips to silence him.
"Would you like to come upstairs? We could…talk for a while. Until we have to leave."
"Oh, it's not a problem – I could just push up the reservations—"
"No, it's just that, I want to show you something. It won't take long."
He mutely nodded, and she took his hand, leading him back through the lobby and up the stairs.
…
Po gazed at her incredulously as she led him up the stairs to her room. She knew what he was probably anticipating, and realized that she was making this seem much less…innocent, than it truly was. Especially to him. She would be the first to confess that, in fact, she wanted it to seem not as innocent.
But before she could allow him to take her out to dinner, before she could allow herself to say anything about their relationship, and especially before they could allow themselves the opportunity to do anything…hasty – she needed him to see those letters. She needed him to know, in written word, how much she really cared about him. Because this was it, the opportunity that people often dream about –
A man and a woman, alone together in a foreign city; without boundaries, expectations, or even the slightest idea where their time together would lead them.
She shook her head and grasped his hand more tightly as she led him towards the door to her suite.
Oh gods, this was totally unlike her. She wasn't like this before. Her heart was racing with how he'd react to all of this – because she already knew how he saw her; Master Tigress, leader of the Furious Five, a tough, gritty hard-as-nails girl who took an attitude from no one. She did have a softer side, yes, a side of her that Po was already intimately in tune with. But this was going to be the end-all – this was the side of her that nobody, not even Po, knew.
Setting all plausible deniability aside, in these past few months, she could no longer deny that her feelings for him had changed. They'd been changing for well over a year now. The problem was that it took her just as long to realize it…
"Tigress," He said, snapping her from her thoughts. His voice sounded in doubt. "Tigress, I haven't seen you in four months, are you seriously about to do what I think you're about to do? Because you weren't ready, and neither was I. If this ruins us somehow, I'll never be able to forgive myself –"
She smiled and squeezed his hand, fumbling with the doorknob. "Po…"
"Tigress—" The feline propped the door open, and they clumsily fell through it. "Wait."
Po pulled away from her and stood in the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest, watching her with intent, questioning eyes.
She put her paws on her hips and sighed, cocking her head slightly. "What's the problem, Po?"
"It's been months since I last saw you, or heard from you. I just," he sighed, gluing his eyes to the floor. "I didn't know what to think at first. You told me to wait a few weeks, so I waited, and waited…and nothing. And now you're here. What am I supposed to say?"
Oh gods, he's having second thoughts. "Po," she breathed. "I wanted you to see something. Something important."
He looked up, advancing slightly towards her. "What?"
"It…it's the letters." She swallowed hard. "They're the letters I wrote."
He watched her skeptically.
"…I wanted to send them to you, but, I just couldn't." She explained, and walked over to her travel bag to pull out a bundle of papers, which roughly covered the past four months of her life. She held them out to him, hoping to the gods that he would take it. But he just watched them guardedly, his green eyes glancing between her, the letters, and the door.
"Tigress, I –"
He stopped himself.
Just take the letters, Po. Please…
She was offering him her life, her heart and soul, and he showed absolutely no sign of accepting it. Her paws began to shake.
"I…" He looked in her eyes; they were wet with unshed tears. "I think I need to leave." And he left.
Utterly devastated, the feline sat down on her bed, dropping the letters onto the floor. She curled up into a ball, and, for the first time since she was a little girl, she began to cry…
What the hell just happened? What on Earth was he thinking? How could he just leave her alone, in her hotel room when she had tried to tell him – something – something important? Tigress had never looked so soft and vulnerable before tonight, curled up on that wonderfully large bed, one that looked so soft and inviting…
Gods, he didn't need this right now. What he needed to do was think. Think about what she tried to give him just a few moments ago. It wasn't that he didn't want this – he wanted this desperately. Every thought in his head screamed at him to turn on his heel and run back up those stairs, but he just couldn't bring himself to do that. It felt strange, rushed, not at all what he wanted. If he caved, if he went back…everything they'd been through before this, and everything they worked for, would be for nothing.
It would have all worked up to dinner and a night of passion in an expensive room in the middle of Cháng'ān. No distractions. No boundaries – no Shifu, no Dad, no Furious Five, no kung fu and no dangerous villains or evil armies to speak of; just the two of them, and no one else.
Dear gods…that's exactly what I always wanted it to be…
He turned his head and looked toward the well-lit inn as he strode quickly away from it. Would it be such a bad thing to turn around, walk back up to that room, open up the door and say, "About all that stuff I said before? Just forget about it, I've changed my mind. Let's get to it." No, that wasn't him at all – who was he kidding? He knew what the problem was. It wasn't that this was going too quickly, and that he hadn't had enough time to think this through. Po knew exactly what he wanted. The problem was that it was finally here.
The dream, his dream, was finally becoming a reality. He'd always been a firm believer in dreams…and honestly, everyone needed dreams to lean on every once in a while. He always had his. And his dream, however unlikely, was to be with her. To love her and for her to love him back. That in itself was everything he'd ever wanted. Nothing else.
And now, after years of dreaming about it, it presented itself in flesh and blood. The chance to be with her was his for the taking.
So why, then, was he running away from his dream like a scared little kid?
Tigress would more than live up to the expectations he'd built up in his mind of her, that he knew. That didn't bother him in the least.
He was afraid. Afraid that he wouldn't be able to live up to her expectations; utterly terrified of the reality of a real relationship with her and taking it for granted, and more importantly, taking her for granted. And he was also terrified that he would ultimately let her down.
His fear wasn't rational – she wanted him, and she loved him (at least he was pretty sure she did…why else would she follow him here?). These were two facts that would never cease to amaze him, yet he recognized them both as being real and true. She was prepared to do anything, offer herself to him, everything she had, as she's offered herself to no one else.
He wanted to read those letters, and she was willing to give him that too. The past four months they had been apart, he would finally know what she was feeling, what she had been going through. But he was deathly afraid to learn the truth – the 'what if's' and the 'if only's' would probably tear him apart.
Even worse still, he would be able to identify the inner motivations behind her act back at the inn. Maybe she didn't want him at all – maybe, to save him the grief of finding out on his own, she came here just to tell him that she wanted to move on with her life, and that everything she did, and everything he had done, was a mistake. He could find out that he was nothing more than a stepping stone for her denial.
Or, perhaps worst of all, he would find out that Tigress honestly, genuinely, and eternally loved him.
At least in his dreams he was always able to distance himself, because before it happened, before he became the Dragon Warrior, she didn't know who he was…she was inaccessible. An unattainable dream; but this girl, this woman, was reaching out to him, asking him to accept her for who she was, and he wasn't entirely sure that he would have the strength to do that.
The panda had been wandering around for what felt like eternity when he finally found himself outside the walls of the Imperial Palace. The complex was, of course, sealed up tighter than a drum. Two guards would rotate around the southern gates every half hour; perhaps if he were lucky they would find him there and let him back in. Emperor Jin was probably already fast asleep. How would he be able to explain the guards finding Master Po hunched over, leaning against the Palace walls like some kind of drunkard, wandering hopelessly around the dark, dangerous streets all by himself?
Destitute, tired and angry, Po plopped down under an oak tree and propped himself up against it. "What the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I just accept what I have and be happy?" He asked himself.
"You could be happy," the answer came on the wind. "Maybe you just don't know it yet."
Now he was hearing her voice in his head – how pathetically lovelorn was he, anyway? He clenched his eyes tightly shut. "Tigress, why can't I escape you? Why do you follow me everywhere I go?"
It was quiet for a moment, but then, she answered him, "Would you like me to leave?"
What the hell—? He opened his eyes…and there she was, standing about fifty yards away.
Po quickly stood up. "No…please stay."
She nodded and hesitantly took a few steps forward. "I knew you'd come here."
"I did wander around for a while, though."
She smiled slightly. "Po, you barely wander anywhere at night but to the kitchen – let alone out here in the dark." He held her gaze, and then her smile faded as she turned serious. "Why did you leave?"
"I was overwhelmed, Tigress, you can't go and blame me for that."
"No," she said resolutely. "You're not allowed to be overwhelmed. I came here looking for you, not the other way around."
She walked even closer to him, covering more than half the distance that separated them.
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" He accused. "I always run away from my problems, Tigress…I'm the whiny little coward who's scared of his own shadow. Maybe coming here was a bold move, but people can be brave and scared at the same time, you know."
Tigress looked at him. "Are you scared of me?" she asked.
He nodded.
"I don't understand…why?"
"Because you've caused me more pain than anyone else in my life, more than my dad, more than Shifu…I don't think I can take another rejection."
"You don't have to be afraid of me, Po, I'm not a monster."
He sighed, and took a timid step towards her. "All this time you've seemed so confident and secure about what you wanted."
Her bottom lip began to quiver. "But I'm not."
They took a few more steps across the abyss, until they were only standing a few feet apart.
"I'm scared of what you tried to give me tonight."
"What did I give you?"
"Everything, Tigress. And that scares me."
"Po, if you don't take some chances in your life—"
"I've already taken my fair share of chances with you," he gazed at her intently. "Now I think it's time that you took a chance."
"Fine, you want to know the truth?" The feline took a deep breath, and Po braced himself. "The truth…the truth is that these past fourteen months have been a living hell for me, Panda. The only thing that pushed me through day by day was you…especially from the very beginning, the things you said, the things you did to get us to like you – all of it – I can't tell you how much that meant to me. You saved my life, Po…"
"But," he breathed. "But I thought you hated me then."
"I did," she confessed. "I hated you. But I only hated you because you were everything I wasn't. You always knew what to do, where to be. After a while, my hatred slowly became indifference, then respect; and then I started to like you –"
"And now?"
She sighed, and looked up into his green eyes. "I think –" Tigress hesitated, whispering as she lowered her head slightly. "…I think I may be falling in love with you."
He grinned ecstatically, perhaps even stupidly. "You—you are?"
Closing her eyes, the anxious feline nodded. "May I kiss you?"
"Yes." He answered. "Oh my gods, yes."
"…Look, I like to let people talk who like to talk; it lets me find out just how full of shit they really are."
Mantis glared at him. "What the hell did you just say?"
"Hey boys," Viper said rather casually, slithering up to the two bickering warriors. "Still fighting about that bill, hmm?"
"Viper, you have got to back me up here – he just doesn't understand the concept of good stewardship like you and I do."
"You're acting as if they never served us at all!" Monkey said.
"It's not that the food was terrible," The insect clarified. "It's just that the service sucked and I think that we shouldn't have left such a big tip!"
Monkey rolled his blue eyes. "Oh, please, the waitress was only fifteen years old, not to mention that the restaurant was completely packed and she was the only one there to take our orders. What, are you going to blame the shop owner for overcrowding the dining room, too? Or maybe your tea was too hot, or too cold, or too sharp…"
Viper giggled lightheartedly at that last one; Mantis scowled. "Fine. You two ladies go ahead and laugh, but we're never going to that hell-hole again! I'll tell you one thing, Po is gonna be chained to that kitchen counter when he gets back…I swear, that panda's ass is mine…" His voice faded as he jumped from the tiled roof of the bunkhouse, his numerous complaints about the Jade Palace's recent lack of a halfway-decent chef vanishing into the darkness.
For a few moments Monkey and Viper sat in silence, looking up at the utter brilliance of the clear night sky, with thoughtful looks on each of their faces.
"So what's up with Mantis lately?" The golden-furred primate finally asked, breaking the silence. "Ever since Po left, he's been moping around as if someone stole his soul. I've never seen him so depressed."
"Oh please, the only thing he's lost is his big, fat appetite," She said; he just gave her a questioning glance. "You know, I think Po's cooking is wonderful too; probably the best food I've eaten to be honest, but we survived without him for years without starving to death, didn't we?"
The simian smiled up at the sky. "Remember the times when Tigress used to cook for us?"
Viper cringed. "Gods, don't remind me…that poor girl still can't cook worth a damn. Tried to cook, maybe. Even after all her accomplishments, I still think that being a decent chef was the one thing she let get away. It's a good thing we have a well-stocked pantry."
"Well, look on the bright side – at least she never tried to poison us on purpose, right?"
"She burned water, Monkey!" She said incredulously. "I'm surprised she didn't kill all of us when she decided to try her hand at making stir-fry…"
"And yet she's dating a master chef. Imagine that." He mused with a half-smile.
The serpent laughed. "I know…poor Po. He has no idea what he's getting himself into."
"They are an odd pair, I'll admit." Monkey replied, bringing his eyes down from the heavens to look at her. "Do you think what they have is right, Viper?"
She looked at him like he had gone right out of his mind. "I think that what they have is perfect, Monkey. Her epic failure as a cook aside, I honestly don't think she could have gotten herself a better guy than him. It's like that old cliché that opposites attract…except what they have is genuine. Anything that she didn't have that she wanted, he gave that to her. Like the Yang to her Yin, or something…"
He took a deep breath. "A very poetic way to put things in perspective, I guess."
Viper nodded, and let her azure eyes scan across the stars. "I wonder if I'll ever have anything that good."
His smile broadened. "Of course you will, Viper. Everyone finds what they're looking for eventually. You just have to know where to look."
She raised her eyebrows and looked at him skeptically. "Oh, really, Monkey?"
"Really, Viper."
The tattooed snake wrapped her coils around in a tight circle, hoisting herself up to his height. "Maybe it's really hiding in plain sight. We just aren't looking because it's right there in front of us."
They both glanced around, scouring every square inch of the tiled roof of the bunkhouse before looking back at each other.
She grinned.
"I think that maybe it's time we started talking…"
He smiled at her. "I'm listening."
Po kissed her long before she had a chance to say anything else.
She stood absolutely still as his paws roamed every part of her body, moaning softly against his lips as he found and caressed the pleasure spots that only he knew. Her knees began to buckle once his hands began to dance lower along her frame, so she pushed him back until she felt the hard thud of stone behind them, and used the wall as leverage to force her tongue into his maw…
This sudden turn of events shocked him; she was equally ashamed and exhilarated to state. They had kissed before, clearly; even made out once in a while when nobody was around…frankly, she preferred keeping the latter for occasions when they were truly alone, but this one somehow felt different than the others – it felt better, it felt right.
Out of breath, Po pulled himself far enough away so he could rest his head against the wall. "Gods, what the hell are we doing to each other? Why are we torturing ourselves like this?"
Tigress grasped his shoulders. "You know why…this is what you wanted, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is. I know it is, but…" He paused, and then looked down at her. "Is this what you want?"
"Yes, this is what I want, Po, this is everything I want—"
That was when, of course, the guards decidedly made their rounds atop the heavily barred southern gates. Their voices had naturally alerted those same guards – two heavily armored Javan rhinos – to their presence. "Trespassers!" One of them shouted to his partner. "Alert the other officers to get down here immediately…"
Tigress buried her face into Po's shoulder and groaned miserably. This would fucking never work out, would it? The Dragon Warrior looked up reluctantly from their embrace, sporting a fairly visible blush on his cheeks as he caught sight of a particularly garish-looking guard opening up one of the immensely heavy timber-laden doors a bit. He approached them with a lantern in hand.
"Is there a problem, officer?" Po asked.
"What is your business here?" The broad shouldered rhino glared at them for a moment, but then he slumped his shoulders and sighed. "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to put you in a holding cell overnight for trespassing on Palace grounds, unless you've come to see Emperor Jin."
No, no…she wasn't going to let this happen. Not tonight! There was no way in hell either of them were going to be taken in on their first night together in over four damn months! "No, you don't understand," The feline reasoned. "Master Po is an honored guest of Emperor Jin; I am Master Tigress, from the Valley of Peace. Surely you must know who we are!"
He looked up at them skeptically, inspecting both of them through the light of the lantern in his hand. Tigress glanced at Po, whom she was clutching quite tightly while he shook ever so slightly. There wasn't any way around this, was there?
"I am perfectly aware of who you are, Master Tigress," The guard clarified. "But protocol is protocol. I'm just doing my job."
"Can't you just overlook protocol for once?" She paused. "Haven't you ever been in love, officer?"
The rhino eyed her curiously with a small frown.
"Have you ever been married?"
This got her a grunt in the affirmative – she was making some progress. "Er – yes, almost seven years."
"Think of how it started…think about any of the foolish things you did before you settled down." She pleaded. "This is only the beginning for us…" Tigress paused; Po was gaping at her. "We were just leaving, to go back to the inn where I'm staying."
"You were still trespassing, Masters. At the very least I need to issue a citation–"
Tigress growled dangerously. "You will do no such thing. Unless you want two kung fu masters to beat you senseless and kick you over that wall, you will let us leave. Now."
Po tightened his grip on her body, as if to silently tell her off, but she wasn't ready to back down just yet.
The guard snorted angrily, but nevertheless waved them off, holding his hands up defensively. "Alright, alright, move along then. But hurry up and get off the streets…it's much too late to be out. And the best to both of you, from me and my wife."
Po smiled gratefully and pulled them both away from the gates to the Palace, arm in arm, back out into the deserted streets. "Tigress…" He began. "Were you really going to kick that guy's ass for trying to do his job?"
She winked at him. "Maybe."
He stopped walking and smiled a slow, sly grin. "You have no idea how sexy you are when you get violent…"
"Oh, believe me; I know…I read your letters." Her cocky swagger quickly melted away, and she gazed up at him shyly. "I did read them, you know…at least, all of the ones that Shifu didn't confiscate." She smiled fondly. "You said you always used to daydream about me when you were younger…one of the things you wrote, about those portraits of me hanging in your bedroom; was that true?"
The panda shot her a puzzled look, so the feline pulled him down and whispered something into his ear. His eyes widened in shock.
"What?" He almost choked, his cheeks quickly turning red. "I never wrote that!"
"So it is true!" She laughed mockingly. "All this time you said it was just 'collecting memorabilia'; you are such a…"
"Pervert?" Po deadpanned.
"I was going to say 'hypocrite'," the striped feline said.
"Sure you were," the panda muttered.
Tigress laughed and punched his shoulder, and he hit her back in their strange, cavorting fashion. She kissed his cheek and he smiled as she tore away from him, chasing each other through the dark streets with Tigress guiding them both back in the direction of the inn.
…
She pushed him through the door, giggling lightheartedly as he stumbled across the room and fell down, ass first, onto her bed.
He was so deliriously happy at that moment that he almost forgot about their original plans. "Tigress, I still owe you dinner."
"I think that instead of going to some big, fancy restaurant, maybe we could stay in tonight? After all, if we had to go out again, I'd have to wear a dress, and I only really packed what I'm wearing…" She closed the door softly behind her, and lowered her voice. "After all, now that I have you here, I hadn't planned on keeping my clothes on for very long, anyway."
"Excuse me?"
Tigress chuckled deviously, "You know, when I brought you upstairs earlier, you hinted at the idea that we were going to have sex…"
"If I can remember, that was all your fault. Nobody I know says 'come upstairs with me' without the need to get some."
"So, tell me what that means, then. Did you want to have sex, or not?"
"Well," Po glanced at the ceiling. "My wild, untamed awesomeness aside, I'd have to say that you'd probably like me to rock your world."
"Panda…"
"Yeah?"
"Shut the fuck up."
He snapped his mouth shut, watching her wordlessly as she slowly undid the ties on her dressing gown, letting the silken fabric slip from her lithe form and drop right down to the floor. Feeling heat rushing to her cheeks now being completely topless, she looked back up at him. Tigress frowned slightly when she took note of the stunned expression plastered to the panda's face.
"What's with that face? I thought you men liked the idea of us women freely disrobing in front of you."
Po blinked. "Yeah, well, it's not like everyone gets to see Master Tigress strip in front of them; so of course I'm going to have a face."
"Don't you dare play that game with me, Panda." She chided gently. "We both know that you weren't so uncomfortable with this whole arrangement when you pounced on me the first time."
"But wouldn't Shifu find what we're doing just a little bit…disobedient?"
Her eyes crinkled up with mirth. "Disobedient?" She snorted. "Po, you should know better than anyone that I have always been disobedient. Shifu is almost three hundred miles away…and besides, if what you said was true – and you did have crazed dirty fantasies about me, wouldn't you want Master Tigress to be a naughty little tiger this evening?" Her words came out of her mouth so finely articulated, and almost at the level of a soft, sultry coo, that again he couldn't help but gawk.
Heavens that be, she never talked to him like this – unless the gods of comedy were playing tricks on him, this went above and beyond any petty little fantasy he'd ever had of her…
But perhaps for his own amusement, Po decided to milk it a little bit more. "Ohno; the Tigress I dreamed about never had the balls to step out of line –"
He stopped himself when she decidedly upped the ante, tugging at her waistband until it too dropped to the floor.
"Still want to go out?"
Damn. She had him there.
"…Umm, oh wow…"
She sighed. "Po, throughout my life, I've been forced to do many things I didn't want to do. After a while, I found that the best decisions were always made on my own behalf – so you have two choices: either you make up your mind, or I'll make up your mind for you. If there is anything you need to be aware of, it's that I am not known for my subtlety."
He stood up and held her by the waist. "…You wanna bag dinner?"
An artful smile tugged at her lips. Good boy… "We have a bed and an honor bar, what more do we need?"
She growled and threw herself at him, passionately locking their lips together and jumping into his waiting embrace; with the weight of her body against his, he quickly lost his balance, and both tiger and panda fell from their feet and collapsed down into the silky expanse of the large bed beneath them. She broke the kiss, grasping his shoulders in her paws as she stared at him with half-lidded eyes, her lips slightly parted, and her breath hissing out.
For a brief moment he was scared by the ravenous gaze that she was giving him, and then she licked his nose.
"Well, Po, what's it going to be?" The feline asked, her sultry voice turning playful. "Aren't you going to take what's yours?"
"Are you always this demanding?" He asked; she smiled.
"Only when I need to be."
With eager hands they tore through buttons, clasps and ties, tearing through their fabric barriers until there was nothing else left between them but fur and skin. Tigress sat up on her knees, perching atop the giant panda in a domineering position that seemed to fit the nature of her species as he looked up at her, both of them breathing harshly. Through the light of the candle-laden chandelier above the bed their eyes fixated on each other, knowing where this was assuredly headed.
"I keep waiting for the part where you tell me what an idiot I was for leaving you behind…" He murmured.
"Don't be stupid. You knew we both needed this." The feline managed to reply. She curled her tail around his arms, laying herself flat on top of him when he could no longer move his hands. "…Now hush, Panda." She rubbed her cheek up and down his neck, purring hard. Po nudged his muzzle under her chin and tilted her head up, touching his lips to hers, kissing her deeply while she pressed harder against him, molding her body to his as they sank deeper into each other's embrace.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. And by the gods, it did. It really did.
"Gods damn it all…"
Master Shifu, Grandmaster of the Jade Palace, primary teacher of the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior, known throughout his country for his bravery and heroism, and described as one of the very best tacticians of his generation, growled irritably at his opponent, who was laughing merrily from across the table as he quickly scooped up a number of gold coins into his wings.
"Looks like I win again, Shifu." Came the reply of his challenger, Mr. Tzu Ping, proprietor of the finest noodle shop in the Valley of Peace and surrounding five provinces – Ping's Noodles – the father of the chosen Dragon Warrior, and also equally known for his mastery of all known forms of gambling. The old goose collected the pile of coins and placed them all in a small leather bag, smiling knowingly at the distraught kung fu master sitting across from him.
"You can give up now before I've cleaned you out entirely – seventeen rounds and I always come out on top. That must be a new record."
The red panda scowled. "Now I can see where Po gets his overbearing sense of humor. You've taught him well, Ping."
"I am – if anything – a bit pragmatic, Master Shifu. My son, your student, knows that." Mr. Ping said, downing a glass of maotai. "Which reminds me…you said that he should have been back from Cháng'ān by now, yet I have not seen paw or tail of my boy in almost four months."
"As I have not seen Tigress in almost two weeks," Shifu shot back. "If he was on his way back from the capital, she would have intercepted him days ago. I am giving them both the time and distance they need before returning home."
The aged goose raised an eyebrow, "So your daughter is chasing after my son, eh?"
"My daughter is not known for her subtlety, Tzu…"
Mr. Ping laughed. "Well, if I know my son as well as I think I do, he can hold his own just fine."
"We will see about that," Master Shifu simply replied. Undoubtedly, he still was a bit uneasy about letting Tigress take this trip alone, but he needed to put his fears and trepidations behind him – there was no more room in his life for regrets. His newest student had been the one to teach him that. Placing the ebony colored game tiles back in order on the table, the red panda sighed. "Now, are we going to discuss our children all night, or are we going to play some mahjong?"
"Ha! You forget, Shifu…that I am the master of my own domain!" He said, pointing his wing at the row of paintings of his forefathers – his father, his father's father, and his father's father's father who won the restaurant off a friend during the very same game they were now playing.
Shifu smirked lightly, "Like I said before, Ping, we will see about that…"
Po was pulled back into consciousness one sense at a time.
First came the awareness of the many sensations surrounding him. One was the feeling of silken sheets against his fur. Oversized, down-filled pillows formed a comfortable perch beneath the panda's head…and a deep, glowing warmth which seemed to penetrate him to his very core.
Then he became aware of the sounds bombarding him. Two distinct layers of sounds – the top one, harmonious and pleasant-sounding, was the sound of trilling nightingales that seemed to sing a sweet song at morning's inevitable approach. But beneath that came another layer of sounds, ones that were fairly euphonious. A steady, rhythmic breathing, interrupted every so often with the call of a light, rumbling mewl.
After that came sight. Po opened his eyes slowly, carefully, but it didn't prevent the harsh morning sunlight from invading his sensitive jade green eyes. He saw a variety of blurred images all around him – the ceiling was the first thing he focused on, noting the ornate, finely detailed patterns carved into the wooden beams. A small chandelier, with all but two candles burned down to the wick hung above the bed…a bed appointed with gold-toned posts that supported a canopy of fine silk all around him; the heavy draperies against the windows were drawn back to permit the intrusive sunlight to enter.
And then there was smell.
Jasmine and orange blossoms. Lavender, cherry bark, and a number of different fragrances. And the hint of crisp mountain air, mixed with just the slightest bit of baijiu and shaoxing.
For the first time in his life, he knew without the slightest shadow of a doubt where he was.
He turned to his side to find her next to him, loosely wrapped up in the silken bed sheets, her back turned towards him. Po brought his arms around her, pulling her back into his chest so he could lean his head forward to kiss her cheek. She smiled in her sleep as he did this.
"It's morning, Tigress."
She fluttered her eyes open vaguely, slowly pulling herself out of a deep slumber. He sat still and watched the process, mesmerized.
"Oh, does it have to be?" She muttered. "Can't we just stay like this forever?"
He smiled. "Just because we're awake doesn't mean we can't stay right where we are."
Sleepily the feline nodded, so they just stayed that way for a while longer, cherishing the feeling of being in each other's embrace for as long as they dared to. Their first real morning together; it was absolutely extraordinary.
"Weren't we going to call for room service last night?" She drowsily whispered.
"Yeah," He whispered back. "But then we decided that dinner was a bit too high of an idea for us – at least by the time we got enough of our senses back to actually order something."
Tigress smiled slightly, not bothering to open her eyes. "It's just as well…we wouldn't have had time to eat, anyway. You were a busy boy." She giggled quietly as he began to dig his fingertips through the creamy white fur on her belly, and playfully batted at his chest with her tail. "Gods, you're just all hands, aren't you?"
"Sorry…sometimes I just can't help myself."
She withdrew her claws and raked them through the fur on his arm, purring softly at the sensation of his need growing against her lower back. It was then that she realized his true intentions of waking her up so early in the morning – aside from her other rather obvious weakness being the fact that she was still undressed. "Panda, did you bring a bo staff to bed with you last night, or are you just happy to see me?"
He kissed the back of her neck. "Both, if you're a good girl."
She let an amused breath of air through her nose. "Mm, I missed your sense of humor, Po."
"I missed you too, honey." He said softly, briefly glancing around her hotel room. "This room is amazing."
"Hmm?" She was still half-asleep, so he repeated his observation quietly into her ear. "Oh, yeah…well, that's what you get when you're as well known as I am."
Wait, wait. What? It was rather obvious that Tigress was one of the most well-known female figures in China; certainly in recent history and especially of their generation. And because of her celebrity-like status, she probably knew how to get anything she wanted, and as a result, that would have gotten her a fair share of male adulation over the years. Suitors probably came from all over the continent to try and win her over, only to be turned away.
Turned away for…him?
Oh, no. Could it even be possible that he was the one and only object of her affection after all this time? Probably not. How many other men could she have been with – there was no way in hell he could have been the first one. She was too beautiful and too independent of a woman to only have fallen in love with a peasant. She could have anyone she wanted. She could have a prince, or a king; hell, he wouldn't have been surprised if at least one of the male members of the Furious Five made a move on her at some point.
She did say she liked Monkey's sense of humor…Tigress jumped up in alarm and looked at him as he began to hyperventilate, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.
"Po? PO! What is it? What's wrong?"
"I– I–" Well, he couldn't breathe, for starters. He got up, hastily grabbed for one of the robes that the inn had provided to them, and sat by the window, burying his head in his paws and hunching over in a position that he was so intimately familiar with.
Tigress had just as quickly jumped up after him, throwing a similar robe around her naked body as she knelt before him. "Po…say something. Talk to me."
"I…" He looked up at the feline – her eyes were wild and doe-like, her fur mussed yet still gorgeous, her lips quivering and perfect – but it was her eyes which spoke volumes to him.
"I think I need to be alone."
Shock entered her eyes. "H-how could you look at me and say that?"
"I think we made a horrible mistake."
"But, I thought…I thought you said that you loved me…"
"You were right about me – I'm nothing more than a big, fat panda. You deserve better than what I have."
Her ears flattened against her head, already feeling the sting of salty tears cascading down her cheeks. "Po, please, I told you I didn't mean that…"
"…Tigress, I need to be alone." He shakily whispered.
Hurt flew across her features briefly, but she nodded, stood and made her way over to the powder room. Moments later she emerged fully dressed, crossed over to the door quietly, and left the room without saying one word to him.
What had he done?
…
I had another dream last night. I'd barely even gotten an hour of sleep because of how real it felt to me. It was still dark out, and no one else was awake. I knew that it would be quite some time before the gong would ring. I lay back down and covered myself back up, and closed my eyes. And there it was again. My dream.
I don't usually even have dreams – at least, it's been a long time since I've had one that was so, vivid. It was…him. In the capital, waiting for me.
What does that mean?
Po sat curled up in the silky bed sheets where she'd been beside him just moments ago, staring at the closed door that she had walked through. She obviously needed some time alone as well, and he wasn't going to stand in her way. She seemed hurt, betrayed; left him without saying a word. As he sat there the panda absentmindedly thumbed through a few of the notes she wrote, which seemed to be more like journals than anything else.
He felt terribly guilty about it, and yet…
Those letters. Particularly the last one; it was him, standing outside in the streets, gazing fixedly in her direction, up at her hotel room. Waiting for her.
But that's why she had followed him, hadn't she? That wasn't a dream she had – it was a vision. He'd left the Valley with little more than a brief kiss and a solemn goodbye, and she still came after him. But, he only really left because he didn't feel like he was wanted.
She understood that.
That was why she followed him, in the hopes of bringing him back.
That's when suddenly, all of the doubts flew from him. All of the insecurities, the guesswork. She was here. She wanted to be with him, and, as far as he could tell, she wanted to be with him forever.
Just then, by fate, or sheer dumb luck, the door creaked open, slowly, carefully, and she walked in…her eyes falling on him, and then the letters. She looked noticeably uncomfortable and dropped her eyes to the floor. He only smiled and gasped out, "Tigress, I'm sorry. I…I almost ruined everything…I'm so, so sorry."
She shook her head and smiled sadly, "I understand. It's just that—this is hard for me too. You were right – It was…this is all so sudden."
He stretched his arms out, and she slowly came to him. "I'm willing to give this a shot if you are."
"I…I think I am too."
He held her, then, simply held her, until they both drifted off to sleep.
HEY! Did you finish reading already? Did you enjoy it? Then leave a review! It only takes a moment and it lets me know if I'm entertaining you or just wasting your valuable time!
A/N: In case anyone caught it, I threw in a few lines from the original Rush Hour movie, between Detective Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) and Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker), from when they first met at LAX. I've seemed to likened Monkey and Mantis' obscure relationship developed during the movie to some kind of "bromance" (e.g. Turk and J.D. from the television sitcom Scrubs)
The passing mention of Tigress' ability to have visions is an homage to a Frasier character, Daphne Moon, who's always been one of my favorite female characters in television. Jane Leeves, who played Daphne, also happens to be one of my favorite actresses. And if you still don't have the slightest idea of who she is from Frasier, try thinking about the virgin in that episode of Seinfeld - "The Virgin." Remember her now? British? Bitchy? Virgin!
And now for some history notes: Cháng'ān, meaning: "Perpetual Peace", was the historical name given to the modern-day Chinese city of Xi'an. It was the only city in China to hold its premier status as the country's capital for over ten dynasties, mainly due to its geographical position and its long-standing role as being the easternmost terminus of the Silk Road. If you don't know what the Silk Road is/was, Wikipedia and the Internet have all the answers you could ever want. Also, the Dàyàn Ta - or the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, is a Buddhist monument in the center of Xi'an which was erected in 652 C.E. during the Tang Dynasty and considered to be one of the holiest sites in China, because of its history as being the centerpiece of historical Cháng'ān's monastic grounds, where Imperial soldiers were trained before heading off into battle.
Bah, history. If you don't like it, too bad…
Cheers :)
