R&R. Please and thank you.


Even though the party was in full swing, the atmosphere was far less jolly in the adjoining storeroom which Shifu and Emperor Xian were currently stepping into.

"I apologize for not bringing you to a more comfortable room to talk..." Shifu said. "But the walls are very thick here, practically soundproof. There is little chance of us being eavesdropped here."

"And if anyone tries to, you'd know about it, huh?" Xian lifted a claw to point at Shifu's ears and chuckled.

Shifu chose not to respond to that, instead shutting the door. Instantaneously, the band music was cut off, and silence filled the storeroom.

"There are a few spare chairs in the corner." Said Shifu. "Allow me..."

In seconds, the red panda and the tiger were sitting opposite each other in the small room, a single lantern dangling above their heads.

"So, what are your reasons for arranging this meeting?" Shifu asked.

"In a moment, Shifu." Xian said. "My emissary hasn't arrived yet."

"Of course..." Shifu replied. "Uh, speaking of emissaries, what happened after your old emissary was uncovered as a traitor?"

"What do you think? We put him in prison where he belonged."

"Were you alright with that? I mean, from what I heard Meng Tao had been one of your most trusted servants."

"Oh I wouldn't say trusted..."

"Really? You did send him along with your grandson to our camp. Did you remember? We needed to train and test Lu Kang to see if he was worthy of claiming the throne one day..."

Shifu frowned when he saw a devious look in Xian's eye.

"What?"

Xian chuckled.

"Oh dear, I've said too much... oh well, you would have found out eventually..."

He leaned in, gesturing for Shifu to do the same.

"Don't reveal this to anyone, but Meng Tao was the test."

Shifu stared at the emperor.

"Excuse me?"

"You see, I had already been aware of Meng Tao's treachery even before the incident." Xian explained. "Of course I didn't have any proof, and if Meng Tao turned out to be truly loyal then I would end up being the bad guy. So I decided to send him with Lu Kang to your training camp."

"Why would you do that?!" Shifu exclaimed.

"You see, if-" Xian was interrupted when the door opened and Master Eagle Jr. entered the room.

"My apologies for my lateness, your highness, but I was just debriefing the traveling party."

"Quite alright. I was just telling Shifu about the little scheme we pulled with Meng Tao and Lu Kang. Why don't you finish for me and I'll finish this cup of wine?"

"Yes, your excellency." Eagle Jr. smiled a little as he turned to Shifu. "You see, if Meng Tao was indeed a traitor, then Lu Kang would probably find out soon enough. And then by defeating him, he would have not only proved his worth, but gained his confidence and exposed Meng Tao for the backstabber he is."

"Two birds with one arrow!" Xian laughed. "If you'll pardon the pun."

"Ah, I get it all the time." Eagle Jr. replied.

"I see..." Shifu said sourly. "So I and my students were just pawns..."

"Pretty much."

"Right... and we weren't going to be beheaded after all?"

"Who said anything about beheading?!" Xian straightened up in his chair.

"Meng Tao had said..."

"Shifu, my old master, did you really forget about me abolishing the death penalty two weeks after my coronation?"

"Uh..."
"Oh dear... a senior moment perhaps?"
"You haven't changed since you were a teenager, have you?"

Xian laughed again before turning to Eagle Jr.

"Why the long face, Master Eagle?"

"Uh, your highness, I just received an update on the situation..."

The grin on Xian's face vanished.

"Well, what's the report?" He asked.

Eagle Jr. walked over to the emperor and whispered in his ear. The tiger's face turned pale.

"Thank you, Master Eagle." He said quietly as the eagle stepped away. "Right, Master Shifu, it's time to get down to business..."

Shifu felt a slight surprise at the tiger's current expression. A minute ago, he had been his typical humorous self. Now he looked like his favorite uncle had just died. Shifu sat straight-backed in his chair, listening raptly as Xian began to speak.

"There is a fortress, deep in the Himalayan Mountains." Xian began. "I don't know the exact details, but some time ago, the fortress was discovered by a group of soldiers. You'd probably remember that a warlord had once hidden in the mountains. The warlord was eventually captured, but we never found his hideout. Of course, when this fortress was found, we immediately suspected that this may have been the said hideout. A large group of soldiers stormed the site, but it turned out to be a derelict. Commander-in-Chief Tujiu had the bright idea to take control and refurbish the fortress for our own purposes. He and over a thousand men have been stationed there ever since."

"So what do you need us for?" Shifu asked.

"Well, a few weeks ago, something strange has started happening there." Xian went on. "According to the reports, soldiers have been disappearing, and coming back as corpses."

"Inside the fortress?" Shifu raised a bushy white eyebrow. "How come the culprit hasn't been caught yet?"

"Because it's not happening inside the fortress." Eagle Jr. said. "It's happening in the mountains surrounding the site. Just a few minutes ago I received word that a group of nearly a dozen soldiers ventured out on patrol and never came back."

Shifu suppressed a shudder at the unpleasant image that flashed through his head.

"General Tujiu insists that the culprits are mountain bandits, but we're not so sure." Xian said. "Several of the victims were gorillas, for crying out loud."

"If the soldiers are dying, then why not have them evacuate the site?" Shifu asked.

"I've sent frequent orders to the fortress, but that feathery fool hasn't budged an inch!" Xian snapped suddenly. "Either he's ignoring me or whatever is doing this is intercepting the messages! He insists that he can handle this, but I'm having my doubts. Those soldiers need all the help they can get. And that is why I've come to you."

"So you want us to go over there ourselves, find out what's going on, and stop it." Shifu said.

"Not just stop it." Xian said. "Make sure no-one else dies."

"Understood." Shifu said. "When do you want us to leave?"

"I was originally intending for us to go in a couple of days, but after what Eagle Jr. has told me, I think it's best if we go first thing in the morning."

Shifu blinked.

"We?"

Xian gazed at him with intense tea-colored eyes.

"This could be an extremely dangerous mission." Shifu said sternly. "It would be unwise for you to come along."

"Master Shifu..." Xian stood up from his chair. "Nearly fifty soldiers are dead. I owe it to their families to personally make sure that whoever murdered them is brought to justice."

"You have no responsibility for the deaths of those men."

"It may have been the general's idea to take over the site, but if I hadn't authorized it, this never would have happened!" Xian retorted. "I have to take some responsibility for what has happened!"

Shifu opened his mouth to reply, but then stopped. He had been through this before when Xian had been child under his tutelage. Whenever Xian made up his mind, not even Master Oogway could change it.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked. "You are the leader of the country. What if something happened to you?"

He was answered with a striped fist flying towards his face.

Shifu blocked it with both forearms, ducked beneath Xian's arm, and leapt up towards the tiger's chest, foot raised to strike. Xian stepped backwards, grabbed Shifu's leg in mid-air, pulled him down to earth and pinned him with his other paw.

Shifu slapped the paw away with one hand and somersaulted backwards. He landed with both feet on the floor, just in time to see Xian flying at him.

Before the red panda could react, a thin short knife was at his throat, completely immobilizing him.

Shifu chuckled as Xian lowered the knife and straightened up back into a regal pose.

"As you can see, I can take care of myself." Xian replied and slipped the knife back into his sleeve. Eagle Jr. had not moved once during the entire event.

"I see..." Shifu retrieved the staff he had dropped during the brief fight. "I'm sorry I doubted you. As your old teacher, I should have known better."

"And besides, if I come to the fortress personally, then Tujiu would have no choice but to evacuate the soldiers." Xian replied. "Even he can't disobey a direct order from the emperor himself."

"You're right." Shifu said. "Clearly the soldiers are no match for whatever is behind all this, so it's best that they're out of harm's way." He righted his chair, which had been upturned in the struggle. "Have you told me everything?"

"Yes." Xian said. "You know, you can wait until tomorrow morning to tell your student what I've just told you. Goodness knows they could do with a little fun around here."

"If you're talking about that time when I refused to let you and your fellow students visit the winter festival, then message received." Shifu scowled.

Xian smirked as Shifu politely excused himself from the room.

Then he turned to Eagle Jr. with a far less amused expression.

"Head to the fortress and tell the general that we will be there in a couple of weeks."

"Yes sir." Eagle bowed.

"Oh, and tell him in my exact words that his brilliant idea to keep sending soldiers outside the fortress has probably made the situation ten times worse. I sure hope he's happy."

"Understood. Do you wish me to escort you back to the party?"

"No thank you. I want that idiot to get my message asap."

"Understood."

Eagle departed the storeroom, leaving the emperor alone with his troubled thoughts.


Tigress stifled a yawn as she and Po stepped into the kitchen. While the room was near pitch black due to lack of lights, it was not quite silent: the sound of the band's music could be heard, even all the way from the Hall of Warriors.

"Watch your step, Tigress..." Po said, taking care to keep his voice down so as not to wake young Su and Pong, who had surely fallen asleep by now in their respective bedrooms. "It's super dark in here... ow!"

"Hush!" Tigress shushed him after she heard a thud and a clatter. "Are you okay?"

"Stubbed my toe on the table leg. Sorry about that."

"There should be some spare lanterns on the bench to your right."

"Okay, okay... just let me wait until my little piggie who stays home stops throbbing..."

A few moments later, there was the sound of rustling paper as Po sought out and eventually located the lanterns.

"Oh darn. I can't find any matches."

"There should be some in the cupboard above your head."

"What cup-" Thud! "Yow!"

"Oh for the love of..." Tigress, who had better night vision than the panda currently rubbing his sore skull, 'gently' pushed him aside and acquired the matches from the already open cupboard. A minute later, the kitchen was partially lit with red and gold lanterns, the blending colors giving a lovely atmosphere to their surroundings.

"Awesome, now we can see!" Po said once the aching in his head had dulled somewhat. "So, Tigress, what tea do you like best?"

"What's available?" Tigress asked as she sat down at the table.

Po rummaged through the bottom cupboard and came up with several jars.

"Nearly every kind of tea you can imagine." He said. "We've got green tea, yellow tea, black tea, white tea, jasmine tea and oolong tea."

His please grin faded when Tigress didn't reply.

"What's wrong? Do you not like any of these teas?"

"Oh, its not that." Tigress said, rather shyly Po noted. "It's just that I've never tried any of them before. That's going to make it hard to pick one."

"Well what teas have you had?" as Po asked this, he procured a pair of teacups as well as a teapot from the cupboard next to the one he had bumped his head on.

"Medicinal tea." his friend replied.

"Oh..."

"Hey, Po. Which tea do you personally suggest?" Tigress asked.

"I dunno..." Po said as he pushed some firewood into the stove. "They're all pretty tasty..." his eyes widened as he suddenly came up with an idea. "Hey, Tigress. How about I get the rest of the cups out and you can try all the teas?"

"What? Po, there's no way I can drink five or six cups of tea."

"You don't have to." Po smiled warmly at her, the kind of smile he gave whenever he had come up with an idea that wasn't illogical or crazy. "You can take a sip, and if you don't like it, I can have it."

"And if I don't like any of them?" Tigress raised an eyebrow.

"Then someone, and by someone I mean me, is gonna be spending more time peeing than sleeping tonight, aren't they?" Po replied with a chuckle.

Tigress smiled a little at that remark. Po smiled back, elated that she looked like she was feeling better, for that was why he had invited her to this late night tea party: to put a smile back on her lovely face.

"Alright then." Tigress sighed. "Get the kettle on."

Po turned back to the stove and lit it. As he filled the kettle with fresh water, he began humming a tune. Tigress didn't recognize the tune, but there was a rhythm to it, a moderately placed rhythm that made her keep smiling. After a while, she asked;

"What are you humming?"

Po suddenly looked startled, as if he hadn't realized that she could hear him.

"Ah! Ugh, uh... just this little song I made up while I was cooking the feast." he mumbled. "I'll shut up if you want."

"Are there any lyrics?" She asked.

"Why do you want to know?" He asked suspiciously. "You're not gonna make fun of me, are you?"

"No, I won't."

"Alright..." Po stilled looked unsure as he set the kettle on the stove. He stood up straight, cleared his throat, and began singing quietly.

"I'm hostin' the feast, toastin' the feast,

I'm going to be doin' the feast!

Servin' it up, right in your cup,

making a feast to remember!

I've never hosted, hosted a feast before,

that won't stop me from servin' some boar!

Fried boar..."

He faltered when he heard a foreign sound.

"On the side boar..."

Po looked back at the table, and realized with a flip-flop sensation in his ample gut that the sound was Tigress giggling.

Not a smirk. Not a sarcastic chuckle. A genuine laugh full of humor and pleasure.

"T-Tigress?" He stammered.

"I'm sorry." Tigress managed to utter between giggles. "I'm... ha, ha... I'm just wondering what Master Boar would say if he ever heard you singing that."

"Oh yeah..." Po chuckled uneasily. He was about to say more, when he was distracted by the whistling of steam streaming from the kettle. "Why don't we start with black tea?"

"Okay, why not?" Tigress held out the cup, already filled with the tea, and held it steady as Po carefully poured in the boiling water. She waited a few moments as it cooled down slightly, then took a small sip.

"What do you think?"

"Hmmm..." Tigress paused as the tea ran over her tongue. "A bit bitter for my taste."

"Yeah, I consider it the least favorite myself." Po said before taking a sip himself so the cup wouldn't go entirely to waste. "Okay, you pick the next one."

"Okay... how about oolong?"

"Okay, give me a sec to pour..."

A minute later, both Po and Tigress were grimacing: the oolong had been twice as bitter as the black tea.

"Ugh..." Po shuddered. "Guess I left it steep too long..."

"Why don't we try green tea next?" Tigress asked.

"Okay, but let's taste it with honey..."

Tigress allowed Po to pour the tea again and raised the cup to her lips.

"Mmmm..." She smiled and savored the silky taste. "I like this one."

"Yeah, honey works wonders." Po said cheerfully. "Heck, you can even lubricate handcuffs with them!"

They shared a good laugh at that.

As Po, chortled, his eyes took in Tigress's happy smile partially covered by her raised paw, her eyes shining brighter than usual, her shimmering green dress... in that moment, he realized that tonight that just become the best winter feast ever. And all because he had finally made her laugh from the heart.

As he sat there, watching her take another sip of the delicious green tea and honey combination, it suddenly occurred to him that now may be the perfect time to truly impress her.

"Hey, Tigress. Do you remember the Golden Emperor's Fu Dog Frenzy?"

"You mean that made up move you came up with to 'distract the enemy'?" Tigress asked with another amused smile that made Po's heart skip a beat.

"Yeah, that." the panda replied. "Well, some time ago it occurred to me that I could make it into an actual kung fu move. So in my spare time I've been practicing with ropes and noodle strands to try to apply them in combat."

"Really?" Tigress leaned forward over the table, genuinely interested. "How far have your gotten?"
"I'm getting there, I guess..." Po said. "I've gotten so far that I can wield two ropes at once, though two ropes isn't really what you would call a frenzy. Would you like to see?"

"I'd love to, Po."

Po grinned as he quickly stepped out the kitchen, quietly retrieved a pair of ropes from his bedroom, and came back.

"I suggest you move to one side of the room." He said. Once Tigress did as she was told, her gorgeous dress swishing behind her, Po took a deep breath.

Then he lashed out with the rope in his right paw.

Just like a noodle strand had done during his battle with Tai Lung, the rope shot out and curled around an innocent bottle of sauce standing on the counter. A millisecond later the rope in his left paw shot out and grabbed a jug on the opposite shelf. He yanked with both arms, and the bottle and the jug soared through the air, shattering on collision in front of Po's face.

"What do you think?" He asked. "Imagine if I did this to two bad guys!"

Tigress gazed at him with a look that clearly said wow.

"That was pretty good!" She said. "If you polished it a bit more, you just might be able to call it a proper technique!"

"Yeah, but there's way it would top your Tahlia Leap." Po chuckled, inwardly ecstatic that she had praised his effort. He suddenly let out a yawn. "Man, it's late. How about I clean up and we'll call it a night?"
"Sure." Tigress's eyelids were also feeling rather heavy by now. "I'll help you."

Together they bent down to pick up the shards Po had created.

"Thank you for the tea." Tigress said as they collected the bits of bottle and jug. "It really made me feel better."

"You're welcome." Po found himself blushing yet again as they straightened up with their paws full of shards. "I'd do anything for my best-"

CRACK!

Po let out a sharp cry of pain as the top of his head collided with the bottom of the cupboard door he had left open while searching for lanterns. The shards he had been holding shattered into smaller pieces on the floor.

"Po!" Tigress gasped and rushed over to the panda in concern.

"I'm okay!" Po said through gritted teeth, his paws clutching his throbbing skull. "I'm okay... I'm used to this... I'm okay..." He lowered his paws, looked down at them, and frowned in confusion. "Tigress, did you spill chilli sauce?"

"No."

"I'm not okay!"