Budding Emotions
Chapter 10: Heart's Eyes
Po opened his eyes as he stood up from the ground, and when he opened his eyes he saw a courtyard, and at the edges were a wall stretching to all four sides of the courtyard, making it look like a giant sand box. Many kids were playing with marbles and some were playing tag, and in the corner of the courtyard was a…
"Wait…" Po said as he looked closer and saw that it was a small panda kid, eating his lunch which was a couple of dumplings from a bamboo lunchbox; it was Po as a child.
"Whoooahh! Wait! What's going on here? Hey, voice thingy, mind tellin' me why I'm went back to my past?" Po said
But the voice didn't answer, then Po just shook his head and said "That's it, this is official, I have GOTTA lay off the leftover soup!"
Po then decided to approach his past self and asked "Hey kid, or…me, how's it going?"
But Po's past self just sat there, finishing up his lunch and closing his lunchbox.
Po raised an eyebrow and asked "Hey! You okay kid?" Po then tried to pat the kid's shoulder but his hand went right through as he almost tripped but regained his balance.
"Whoahhh! What the--?" Po said
Then Po heard the sound of a door opening as Po turned around and saw a pig lady in a green dress standing in front of an open door from a large building.
"Alright kids, recess is over! Time to get back to class!" The lady said as she clapped her hands to signal the kids.
Po's past self started walking towards the door with a sad face as he sighed, Po tried to pat his shoulder again but failed, Po realized that things usually don't work a third time and so Po decides to just follow his past self. When Po's child self neared the door along with other kids, the kids started to pick on him.
"Enjoyed your lunch fatso?" one kid said
"Yeah, it's a surprise he didn't eat his lunchbox in the process!" Another kid said as the rest of the kids laughed.
Po's past self used his lunchbox to shield his face as he ran back inside ahead of everybody else.
As the other kids continued laughing as they entered the building, Po then remembered everything, this was the Valley of Peace's middle school. Po also remembered how kids used to laugh and pick on him, it made him feel like an outsider, and that's what Po's past self is feeling right now.
Then as Po blinked and opened his eyes, he was in another place again, this time it was inside a classroom, and the teacher was a goose this time, as he used a thin wooden rod to point to the math problems on the board. Po could vaguely remember how to solve those problems, but he tried not to dwell too much on it.
As the teacher finished reading from his book, she looked towards the students and said "Now…Po! Can you tell me what the answer to this problem right here is?"
She pointed to a problem to the left of the board as Po's past self scratched his head and tried to answer "Um… eighte--"
Then Po's past self was interrupted when a loud cymbal noise, the class then ran towards the windows to the right of the classroom and started talking to each other about something. Po approach the window while passing through the students, literally, and Po saw that a festival troupe was outside, dancing and walking through the village, as a group of people waved constantly in the center of the troupe.
Po gasped as he saw that it was it was the Furious Five's past selves! They were about the same size as Po but they still had that warrior-type look. Po then struggled to remember what this event was, and then he had it.
"The Introduction Festival…" Po said to himself.
Po recalled that this was when Kung Fu was discovered by Master Oogway, and recruited the Furious Five to practice the first styles of Kung Fu, Mantis, Monkey, Tigress, and Viper. Po smiled as he remembered this, because this was the day when Po became fans of the Furious Five. Po turned to his past self and saw that he was watching in awe of the festival troupe, but Po noticed that his sight was focused on something different, Po looked in Po's direction and saw that it was Tigress that he was looking at.
"Wow…" Po's past self said as he blushed.
Po's eyes widened as he was now blushing as well, this was also the time when he fell in love with Tigress.
"Love at first sight huh?" Po said as he was still blushing
Then the teacher approached and said "Alright kids, that's enough sight seeing, back to work"
"Awwww" the kids said in unison
"This sucks!" One kid said
The teacher then turned around and said "What was that, Kirime?"
"Nothing!" The kid replied
The teacher nodded and went back to her lessons but then saw that Po's child self was still looking through the window.
"Po, get back to your seat" The teacher said with an annoyed face.
Po's past self was still looking but then the troupe moved on through the town and was out from Po's sight.
"Are you listening, Po?" The teacher asked
Po's past self sighed and said "Yes ma'am"
Po's past self then returned to his eat and looked down at his book.
Po then saw that his past self sighed as he spaced out, remembering his past, Po was sure that his past self is thinking of the Furious Five right now, but mostly…Tigress.
Po then remembered his mission and said "Alright, is there a reason why you're showing me all this?"
But no answer, Po was left to stand there in the classroom, until everything disappeared again but this time Po didn't fall, instead, a new area materialized in front of him. What he saw was a large room with a stage up front, and the Furious Five were up there, performing their kung-fu moves, and below the stage was a large group of what seems to be like teenagers, then Po realized, this was Po's high school prom night.
Po moved into the crowd to find his past self, but no luck, until Po saw his past self was standing near the left wall, cheering the Furious Five on as he held a cup of fruit dew in his right hand.
"WHOOO! HAHAHA! YEAH!" Po's teenage self said.
Po as a teenager didn't look so different, except their height and that his teenager self was a little slimmer, but only by a little.
Then two pigs walked towards Po's teenage self with cups of dew as well.
"Dude, this is awesome!" One of the pigs said
"Yeah, but Po, where's your date?"
Po's teenage self kept cheering as he yelled "Don't have one! Not yet at least" to be heard over the crowd.
The two pigs were Po's friends as he remembered Yen and Sanoske. They were his only friends in high school, and the only ones that didn't make fun of him.
"What do you mean by not yet?" Sanoske asked
Po smiled and turned to his friends and said "After the performance, I'm gonna ask Master Tigress to dance with me!"
The pigs looked at each other in awe and Yen said "Tigress, MASTER Tigress? Are you kidding?"
Po nodded as he smiled and said "No, I'm serious, after the performance they're going backstage right? Well I sneak in, ask her to dance for a bit, and after that she can go back to the Jade Palace, it's a great idea!"
Yen rubbed his head and said "Po…did you even thought about what you would do if she says no?"
Po's teenage self was lost in thought for a second but shook his head and just said "Doesn't matter, at least I would've actually talked to her, I might not get a chance like this ever again, this IS our senior year you know."
Sanoske just laughed lightly and said "Alright, when if you come back crying and asking us to walk you home—"
Po's teenage self then lowered his brow and made an annoyed face as he said "Shut up!"
Sanoske laughed as Po's teenage self handed him his cup and headed closer to the stage.
Sanoske and Yen stood there while watching Po wait by the stage.
"15 yen on Po failing miserably" Yen said
"It's Master Tigress he's asking, do we even need to bet?" Sanoske said
Po laughed as he remembered that Yen had a lust for money, ironic isn't it?
Then the show was over as the Furious Five finished up their moves and as a finisher they created a tower made of themselves and then jumped off and went back into their famous stances.
The crowd then roared as the Furious Five then bowed to the crowd and went towards the back of the stage, this was Po's, or rather, his past self's chance.
Po's teenage self then headed for the stage stairs as everybody else was dancing and mingling with each other. Then Po remembered something terrible, something bad happened in this plan of his, and it wasn't good, Po then decided to follow his past self onto the stage. Po was directly behind his teenage self as they both headed further backstage, and then they finally reached the area where the Five were meeting and talking, luckily the Five then started to leave in the back door, but Tigress was the last of them to reach the door, Po's teenage self then saw this chance and approached Tigress slowly.
"You can do this, come on! Come on!" Po's teenage self said as he neared the back curtains.
Then Po suddenly remembered the bad thing that was going to happen! Po ran up to his past self to warn him.
"HEY!! WATCH OUT! DON'T—"Po said
But it was useless, he couldn't touch or even talk to his past self, he was just a ghostly visitor here, he had no choice but to just stand there and watch the most embarrassing thing ever happened to him unfold. Then a sound of cracking can be heard as then a pile of bamboo props then dropped onto Po's teenager self, as Po was buried beneath the pile and depending on the sheer weight of those props, he wasn't going to get up with one try.
"Oops! Sorry!" A man from above the bamboo platform of the stage said
The man turned to look below the hole as he saw a hand sticking out of the props pile and said "Oh my god! This can't be good"
The man headed down as Tigress turned around, confused of what just happened, as she headed for the pile.
When they both reached the pile the man said "There's someone under that pile, please…help!"
Tigress didn't hesitate as she then began digging through the pile as though it was a pile of pillows, until she found a dazed panda teenager lying on the floor, dazed of what happened.
"Wha—Ti-gress, MASTER TIGRESS!" Po's past self then stood up and met Tigress's eyes
"You ok kid?" the man said, he appeared to be the stage manager.
"Yeah, pretty much" Po's past self said
Po sighed in relief as he realized that it must've been his belly that protected him from the pile of props.
Po's teenage self then turned to Tigress and said "Thank you, Master Tigress, I was also wondering if you woul—"
"Just be careful next time, stupid panda" Tigress interrupted as she then turned around and headed out the back door.
Po's past self then stood there, with a sad look now that he was rejected, sort of at least.
The manager stood there with a confused look and said "What were you doing back here anyways kid?"
Po's past self said nothing as he headed out back into the crowd area, saying nothing to the manager.
Po grazed his arm and had a semi-sad face and said "…She must've forgotten about this…"
Po remembered that even after this, he never gave up on Tigress and The Five, he loved her, and even if she didn't share his feelings, it was enough to see her smile.
Then everything disappeared once again and now materialized into the Hall of Warriors in the Jade Palace.
Po massaged his head and said "Alright, this is starting to get me dizzy, you mind telling me why you're showing me all this?!"
Then a dark mist traveled from back of Po and to the front of him, near the Sword of Heroes.
The mist then materialized and formed into a familiar figure, semi-slim, dark stripes, red eyes, it was Tigress, except her fur isn't orange this time, but it was a dark mix of purple and gray.
The mist had turned into the almost perfect replica of Tigress.
"Uhhh…O…k…this could be bad" Po said while getting into his stance.
The beast then charged at Po, hitting Po with palm strikes and fast kicks, these were Tigress's moves, which made it even harder to defend against, as Po was struck in the waist and was kicked all the way into the Moon pool.
The beast then laughed as Po regained his balance and got out of the pool.
As the water was still dripping from his fur, Po shook his head dry and said "Ok…that was WAY too déjà vu."
The beast charged again as Po used the nearby pillar and jumped off it onto the next one. The beast then punched the pillar as it sent cracks towards to top of the pillar and then destroying it, Po jumped and landed near the door as the pillar went down.
The beast then growled and charged at Po, Po then swiftly got up and blocked her strikes.
"That's it, I gotta hit her, but I just…can't" Po thought.
Then Po let his guard down as the beast punched Po in the stomach, sending him flying and crashing into the door. Po then fell off and landed on the floor, kneeling as he held back the pain and caught his breath.
"What will you do?" The voice said
"Oh so what? Now you answer?" Po said as got up, the beast was eyeing him with evil intent.
"Will you fight and conquer the beast?" The voice asked
Po then was lost in deep thought as he closed his eyes and thought about holding Tigress's hands, meeting her under the peach tree, falling in love with her, seeing her eyes, carrying her while climbing the mountain, and even the kiss she gave him. All this extended his love for her, as he thought about how Tigress is hanging on right now. As Po opened his eyes, he could see something different, something faint but clear, the beast…
"I get it now…" Po said
The beast then grabbed the Sword of Heroes and threw it at Po, Po only stood there as the sword flew right past his face, leaving a cut mark on his left cheek. The beast then pounced at Po, revealing it's claws as it neared Po. Po only stood there once again and held out his arms, then when the beast got close, he grabbed the beast and hugged it, the dark mist then disappeared and slithered away, leaving the real Tigress in Po's arms.
"Tigress…" Po whispered as he hugged Tigress
He held her for a long time before he said "I—I love you"
But then everything disappeared once again, leaving just Po behind, not even Tigress who Po was holding was allowed to stay.
"No! Wait!" Po said as he held out his hand to reclaim the Tigress who was disappearing before his eyes, but it didn't work, she was gone.
A tear rolled down Po's face as he lowered his arm and closed his eyes, he wanted to hold Tigress longer, to see her smile again.
"Tigress…" Po thought
"Impressive" The voice said again, but this time it was coming from behind of Po
Po turned around, wiping his tears and opening his eyes as he saw somebody wearing a yellow and brown martial arts outfit standing by the Pool of Sacred Tears, Po didn't realize that the place had changed so quickly.
"You saw with your heart, not with your eyes, and saw past the cold and vicious exterior of Tigress, I commend you for that" The man said
The man was also wearing a straw hat, as he held his arms behind him while looking into the lake.
Po thought he looked familiar and said "Who are you?"
The man raised his head and said "Ahh yes, I forgot to introduce myself"
The man turned around and Po saw under the straw hat and saw that it was…a panda, it was Po but in very much slimmer and wearing martial arts clothes.
"You're…" Po said in awe
The man looked at Po and said "Yes, I am you, or rather, the you that you wish to be."
To be continued…
Whoo! Longest chapter so far, anyways sorry for the short delay but yeah I get tired so thanks for the reviews and praises! I really enjoy the reviews I got so far so thanks! R&R!