End of the Party

The party was really alive now. People were dancing and twerking to the sound of the music. Po was done with his fair share of cooking because everyone was either too drunk to care or was satisfied. Po looked around from his open grill to find Tigress. He spotted her going to the fire escape outside. Po followed her and found her down at his balcony window. "Mind if I trouble you for a moment?" Po asked. Tigress simply gave an approving grunt.

"I'm surprised at you, you know," Tigress replied. Po was confused. "I didn't think you would be the kind of guy to party."

"I guess with all the stuff that I've been through, I forgot I liked parties. I was actually a very good entertainer at college."

"I bet," Tigress smirked, looking up at the stars. Then she sighed sadly as the noise of the party continued to blast. "I'm sorry that the parties kept you up at night."

"Don't worry, they weren't the reason I was up at night," Po answered somberly.

"Your wife?" Tigress guessed. Po smiled at her.

"Tonight is not the night to bring up the past," Po bravely remarked, about to go back upstairs.

"How about you face them," Tigress challenged. Po stopped and sighed. "Do you... miss her?"

"I do. Even after what she did, she was still a part of my life at some point," Po replied. An uneasy quiet past between them. "But she did teach me one thing."

"What's that?"

"Never rush the Master of Love. Had I just trusted that he would send the right one I would have skipped the whole thing.

"I think you kind of had to go through it," Tigress replied. Po was confused again. "You would still be the same before you met her. Tradgies tend to change people."

"You say that from experience?" Po asked, noticing her solemn expression. Tigress was silent. "I guess it's not time to talk about that kind of thing."

"Yeah," Tigress simply answered.

"But your cook is here for you if you need me," Po smiled. Tigress smiled back. Then they found something furry in front of them, hanging under Tigress's balcony.

"Hello, you two." Monkey grinned as he jumped onto Po's balcony. "They're here, guys." Soon, Mei-Ling and Viper came down as well.

"Tigress, where have you-" Mei-Ling stopped short when she realized that Tigress was with Po. "Nevermind. How are you two doing?"

"We're good. Trying to get some peace from the madness," Tigress grunted.

"You're sober," Po stated to Mei.

"Yeah, alcohol runs quickly through me."

"Who's watching the party?"

"Don't worry, I got some people on it," Viper assured.

"Right," Tigress sighed.

"Wow, it is really loud up there. Now I know why you didn't want any parties," noted Mei-Ling.

"Hey, Po. Why don't we go inside of your room? These many people are not good on one balcony," Monkey suggested.

"Sure, come on in," Po offered. They immediately heard the noise and racket upstairs.

"Geez, Po. How can you sleep with that noise?" Mei-Ling asked.

"You get used to it... sometimes," Po shrugged. Viper and Mei-Ling looked at each other.

"You know, Po. If you don't want the parties, we can stop them if you want," Viper offered.

"Nah, I wouldn't want to disrupt your fun time," Po smiled as the bumping of the music upstairs nearly deafened him. They could still talk and hear each other normally, but it was still noisy. Po rested on the couch while the others found seats around him.

"So what compelled you to stay here?" Mei-Ling asked.

"A marriage went south. Long story short, my wife cheated on me with my best friend, who was coincidentally her step-brother, and when he wanted to stop hurting me by sleeping with her, she felt rejected and left with the baby. After sleeping with five other men and the last one being an abuser, she killed herself and the baby."

"Oh my Master," Mei-Ling exclaimed in hushed awe.

"I'm so sorry, Po," Viper sympathized. It made her feel even worse when she realized that the parties would keep him up at night. And here Mei and Viper were trying to have fun at the expense of someone's misery. Po could sense the two blaming themselves.

"Don't worry, you two. You didn't know. And even if you did, it's not like you were trying to do it on purpose," Po smiled.

"Still, we're sorry."

"But hey, on a different topic, how did you guys like the show?" Po asked cheerfully. How a person in Po's place could return on his happy side that quickly was amazing to the others. The five of them chatted until sleep claimed all of them. Or at least two people in particular.

The next morning, Tigress slowly woke up and realized that she wasn't in her room. The noise upstairs was gone, and her head was resting against something very soft and furry. She slowly moved her head to see she was resting against Po's shoulder. The panda was sleeping soundly. Tigress carefully slipped away and looked around to see where Mei-ling and Viper were. Then she saw a note in Po's small kitchen by Mei-Ling.

Dear Tigress,

Sorry for leaving so soon. Monkey took us back to our houses. And don't worry about us asking for another party. We'll give Po some peace and quiet. You and Po have fun now. ;)

Mei-Ling

Tigress rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but blush at the idea. She threw the paper away and went to Po's room. She didn't want to be rude, but she couldn't pick the lock for her front door, only her balcony one. Tigress glanced around and noticed one of Po's shirt on the ground. She picked it up and intended to put it away for him when she smelled his scent on the shirt. The scent wasn't strong like most of the guys she dated. They had strong bad odor or scent. Po's was... calming. Soothing actually. Tigress wrestled with a bad idea in her head.

"I'm sure he won't miss it," Tigress convinced herself. Plus it was big so it would keep her warm in the winter. "I'll just borrow it. To... clean out the stains." The shirt was dirty. Tigress made her way upstairs and got into her room. The place was a mess, but Tigress was used to that after a party. Just as long as no one was here when the party was over, she was fine. Then she went to her room.

"Oh dear," Crane muttered.

"How did she take to Song being in her room?" Mrs. Falcon asked cautiously.

"Um..." Po stuttered.

Po woke up to the sound of the telephone. He reached over to the side of the couch and answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, Po. I was just wondering if I could come over to see how you were doing," Wugu said somberly. He had gotten that way over the months.

"Ah sure. I actually need to go to work but I work upstairs from my room."

"You do? For who?" Wugu asked.

"I'll explain later. Just come to the top level and I'll give you some stuff I want you to take to Mom and Dad."

"Okay," Wugu hung up. Then Po heard a loud noise.

"PO!" Or rather a loud woman. "GET UP HERE!"

"That can not be good." Po quickly hustled out of the door and up the stairs to Tigress's floor. Po knocked on the door and Tigress bolted the door open. Her angry glare and growling roar struck Po scared stiff...

And slightly aroused. "No, no, no! Now is not the time, dude," Po said to himself.

"Do you mind telling me why Song is in my room?" Tigress asked. Po's memory quickly recalled.

"OH! Yeah, um... She was drunk and I didn't want anyone to do something to her in that state. So I locked her in your room."

"Without my permission?"

"It would scare her if she woke up in my room," Po explained. He had a point. "Plus, I can't very well just leave her to the will of mindless drunken men and women." Tigress rolled her eyes as she rubbed her nose's bridge.

"You have such a big heart," she sighed. "Okay, when she wakes up, tell me. I'll be in the lobby talking to Mr. Oogway."

"You mean you're not going to stay and make sure she's okay?"

"And have her try and get morning sex with me? No thank you," Tigress muttered. "You deal with her." She stormed out of her apartment room and went down the elevator. Po shrugged and decided to clean up a bit. He might as well be Tigress's butler for all the extra stuff he did. But Tigress did pay him well. Pretty soon, Song staggered out of Tigress's room, tightly clutching the bed sheets around her body. She was still clothed, but she was scared.

"What happened?" She asked the panda timidly. Po smiled at her as he cleaned the dishes.

"Ah, you're up. You were stone drunk and I wanted to make sure that you weren't hurt or anything. So I made sure that you were locked in Tigress's room. Did anyone harm you?"

"No, no. It's just... last night was my first time drinking," Song replied. "Ugh, never again."

"Let me make you some tea for that headache," Po offered.

"Thank you. And thank you for taking care of me, Mr..."

"Po. Just Po is fine."

"I'm Song," The snow leopard smiled.

Continued...