It's a Date


"Aw! I wanted to keep going though," Zang complained. Zan just told them what Master Shifu told him while they were near Gardner's Lake. Zan still seemed sad about the ordeal.

"Are you upset that you might not get them together," Ruby asked.

"It's not only that. If my princely duties are becoming a major thing, that means things at home are getting worse. I really am starting to get worried," Zan said anxious. Ai rested her wing on his shoulder. He smiled at her. "I'm sure everything is alright."

"Anyways, maybe there's something else that we can do in the meantime," O advised.

"Yes, but what," Vick asked. Their answer came quite suddenly. Qiang rushed into the shop looking for the kids. He saw Zan and went straight to him.

"Zan, I need your help," Qiang pleaded.

"With what," Ruby asked.

"Song and I are going on a formal date. I need your expertise in romantic dating to help me with it," the wolf asked. Zan sighed.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Qiang, but I've been banned with any relationship matters. You are on your own," Zan replied. "I can't help you."

"But I can," Said a voice from behind. Everyone looked to see Po smiling as he came into the shop. Zan became nervous and suspicious at the same time.

"Uncle Po, what are you doing here," Zan asked.

"I grew up here, Zan. My dad works here, and if you look up stairs, it's still my room."

"Actually-"

"Oh, Shush it O," Zan commanded harshly. "But what did you mean that you were going to help Qiang?"

"Well, I know a thing or two about dating. I can help," Po smiled, but Zan held his serious face.

"Uncle Po I don't want you to be ruining this date for him just because he use to date Aunty Tigress," Zan said bluntly.

"Zan!"

"I'm making sure that he knows, Ai. I will not have past brought up again."

"And it won't," Po eased his fears. "You're exactly right, the past is the past. Now, you guys get back to work while I help our K-9 friend here." Po exited the shop with his arm slung over a nervous Qiang. Zan eyed the two suspiciously.

"They'll be okay, Zan," Ai tried to assure him.

"I'll believe it when I hear it," Zan concerned. He turned the twins. "Zang, Aang, follow those two and make sure that Po doesn't make Qiang do something he or you two would do."

"Yes sir...HEY!" The two said offended.

"Just GO," Zan demanded as the two squirmed away. The two bunny children stealthily, as stealthily two children can be, watched Po and Qiang from afar. They were, however, close enough to hear their conversation.

"So...thank you Master er...Dragon Warrior for helping me get a gift for my girlfr- I mean, my friend," He said very nervously. Po patted him on the back as he paid the florist the money for the sweet white roses. The panda laughed.

"Don't be so tense, Qiang. I'm not going to hurt you. What's in the past is in the past. I'm glad that you two are together," Po smiled, but Qiang was still nervous.

"She's not my girlfriend. I'm just being friends with her and I thought it would be nice to get her something nice," Qiang LIED. Po smirked.

"You know I heard you tell Zan that it was a formal date between you two," Po replied. Qiang looked away, scratching the back of his head, though he had no itch.

"Okay, you got me," Qiang confessed. "I just don't want to mess this up."

"You're acting as if this is your first time dating a woman," Po observed.

"No, this is my first time ever going on a date with a woman. Tigress never had time or delight in these types of things," Qiang replied plainly. They were silent for a while.

"Let me ask you something," Po started. "Do you think, if you had the chance and if she changed, you would go back to Tigress if Song broke it off with you." Po could see fear and worry in the wolf's eyes. "I'm not saying that she will do that. I'm not! But if it did happen, would you?"

"Not really," Qiang shook his head after thinking about it. "I think Tigress and I would just remain as friends. Actually, I always thought that you two would go together better than she and I did." Po looked away out of embarrassment.

"She and I are just friends," Po recovered. "We wouldn't do stuff like that."

"Really? Because when we were dating, all she would talk about was you. It was one of the main reasons I broke up with her. I physically had her but mentally her attention was still on you." Po felt guilty about him being the cause they broke up.

"I'm sorry," Po apologized.

"Don't be," Qiang said. His voice didn't even have an ounce of sad or heavy burden on him. "I'm actually glad that we decided to break up. I felt like I was keeping her away from the person she truly desired." Now Po was red in the face.

"We're just friends, Qiang," Po replied as they exited the shop. Aang and Zang ducked behind two stands as they walked by.

"I know but still I'm good." As they left, Zang and Aang came back and reported everything they heard from the two. Before Zan could open his mouth, Ruby came in.

"Hey, I just saw Master Tigress talking with Song. Should I be worried," Ruby asked.

"Yes! Guys I'll be right back," Zan said taking off his apron. Ai's quick hands stopped him and retied the apron.

"Oh no, Mister. You know what Master Shifu said. You are not getting involved with these people's lives," Ai said firmly. Zan groaned in submission.

"Zang, Aang, go find Tigress and Song and report to me again. I'm might not be able to interact with them but you two can. Now GO!" The two ran off before Ai could call them back. The crane looked sternly at Zan. Zan smiled nervously. "I'm sorry. I just don't want these two broken up because Po and Tigress won't let things be the way they are."

"That's not why I'm upset. I think you have a plan going on and you're not telling me about it," Ai looked at him in the eyes. Zan nervously laughed but still managed to look at her.

"What do you mean by that?"

Meanwhile, Zang and Aang were at the dress shop, where Tigress and Song were. Song picked a lovely green dress with blue stripes. "What do you think," Song asked the female tiger. Tigress shrugged.

"I don't think it really suits you. You look more like a blue kind of person," Tigress replied. Song smirked.

"And you said you didn't have any knowledge in fashion," Song laughed. "I'll try this on anyways. And this. And this."

"Ugh, girls shopping," Zang groaned.

"Sshh! I've heard that Master Tigress's ears are super sensitive so don't talk," Aang warned. Song went inside the changing room with Tigress standing right outside the door.

"So, how's your relationship with Qiang," Tigress asked with a smirk.

"Um," was all Song could say. She didn't know what Tigress would say about her going out with her former boyfriend.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to get upset," Tigress replied. Somehow that didn't calm the snow leopard's nerves.

"Well," She spoke slowly and timidly as if Tigress were going to barge through the door and kill her. "He is very kind and sweet. Kind of like Po. But he's very shy."

"Yeah," Tigress agreed. They were silent for amount.

"Can I ask you something, Master Tigress," Song asked.

"Okay."

"Why did you date Qiang," Song asked boldly. Now Tigress was nervous.

"Um," was all she could say. "Come on, let's see how you look in that dress. Come on! Come on!" She hastily said, trying to switch the question.

"Okay, okay," Song replied. She came out of the changing booth with a plain yet vibrant blue robe on with a jet black outlining. It was simple yet beautiful at the same time. Tigress walked around her, examining her closely.

"Yes, I think it looks very good on you," Tigress stated.

"Thank you Tigress," Song said as she went to the cashier to pay for the dress. "You didn't answer my question, though." Tigress sighed in a bit of frustration.

"Song, I...don't think that that question is very...appropriate." Song sighed and shrugged her shoulders. The mystic and inner workings of the tiger were very...complicated. Yet it seemed to Song, and everyone else, that Po could read her just fine. Song smiled a bit in mischief. "What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing," Song recovered forgetting that she was there. "Thank you Master Tigress for helping me for the date. I hope Qiang will like it." Tigress placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her what looked like a ghost of a smile.

"I know he will," Tigress said as they went out of the shop. "I know that Zan would want this. He was so determined to get you two together until Master Shifu told him he needed to stop. I guess Operation: 'Get Together' will have to go on without him." Song stopped in her tracks and looked at her confused. "What?"

"You-Um...Never mind...I um...I just remembered something else," Song recovered. She sped up her walking and walked right past Tigress. "Well, I'll tell you how it went," She waved goodbye. A confused Tigress slowly waved back. Zang and Aang returned back to the shop and told Zan everything. The duck rubbed his beak.

"Okay, everything going okay," Zan whispered to himself.

"What do you mean by that," Aang asked. Zan brushed it aside.

"Never mind. O, Ruby, Vick, and Ai went over to Gardner's lake. Go on, I'll be right there," Zan ushered them out. Once they were gone, Zan went to the back of the shop and opened the door to see Qiang and Song. "You guys did well."

"You know, I heard from Tigress that you told them this was a plan to get Qiang and me together," Song remarked. Zan shrugged.

"Hit two cats with one stone. Now, it's important that-"

"AH HA!" Shouted a voice from a dark corner of the room. "I knew you were up to something." Zan swung around to see Ai glaring at him. Zan smiled nervously, darting his eyes from side to side.

"Ai! Aren't you suppose to be with the others," Zan asked.

"I decided to come back and find you after you didn't come back for thirty minutes," Ai replied. Qiang and Song started to leave. "Don't think you're out of this," She snapped, making them come back to their place. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want anyone to know, especially Master Shifu. This is just priming them a little. No harm."

"Still, you should have told me," Ai pouted with her arms crossed. Zan wrapped his wings around her, making her face him.

"Listen, I'm sorry, okay," Zan apologized.

"Well, it seems that you two are getting along well," Song smirked. Zan and Ai pushed away from each other when she said that and blushed. "Well, I guess we'll just-"

"Be going on your date? You know that Po, Tigress, and everyone in the Jade Palace will want to know how the date went," Zan said showing his cocky smile. Qiang and Song were now blushing at each other. Song looked straight at Zan with a stern kind of face.

"This is considered blackmail in some countries," She simply stated. Zan continued to smile.

"Good, because this isn't blackmail. It's graymail, which is much nicer than blackmail," Zan replied. Qiang took Song's hand by surprise.

"Why don't we just go for a walk. You look nice in that robe anyways," Qiang said. Song blushed immensely.

"Thank you. And thank you for the flowers," Song replied.

"Okay, okay, you two. You can take your love some where else. We're closed," Zan said closing the door. "And I have to get back to the palace," Zan said to Ai as he flew away in a rush.

to be continued.