Year of the Tiger

By corset-rebellion-follower

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

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Chapter 21- Sweet

Clover repeatedly looked back at Ning's house as she left. He's a great guy. He respects me enough to let me out of the relationship if that's what I want, and he doesn't scream or throw a fit in the process. He's kind, and funny… and very mature for his age. She squeezed her eyes shut, pinching the bridge of her nose. Damn it. I may have made a mistake. I hate it when I do that.

"Clover? Is that you?" She registered the voice as Po's, and muttered a curse under her breath. Sure enough, the roly poly panda shuffled up to her. "Hey, Clover. How have you been, and stuff?" His apparent nervousness shone through even though he was trying to play it cool.

She sighed and shrugged. "Alright, I guess."

"You sure? You sound kind of sad," he asked worriedly.

"No, no, I'm fine. Honestly. It's just been a very… difficult time for me."

He nodded. "I can understand why. It must be hard to plan a whole wedding. But I bet you're doing a great job." She half smiled.

"Thanks. So what are you doing down here? Are you visiting Dongwa or something?" she asked.

"Nah, Dongwa's still working on his house. I don't know how he can see anything in the dark, but he won't leave until he finishes this really important part. I'm just down here visiting my dad," he replied. "I see." It grew quiet, so the point where it was very awkward between the two. "So… I haven't seen you in a while," Po whispered.

She said, "I've been busy."

He fidgeted. "Well, um… I have something for you. I don't know if you'll like them, but I hope you do." He pulled out a small bouquet of red poppies, tied with a white ribbon. "I think poppies are really pretty. And since, you know, I think you're pretty, I just thought you might like them," he stammered, holding out the flowers to her with shaking paw.

She smiled and took them, running a finger over one of the flowers' petals. "They're beautiful."

He blushed. "I'm glad you like them. And I know you've been busy lately, with Tigress' wedding and all, but I wanted to know if you were, um… if you were free for dinner tomorrow. I could cook for you, if you want. I could be really fun. And it would give you a break from working."

Clover felt a twinge of guilt get through to her heart. Is it wrong to say yes? Ning and I are only taking a break, it's not forever. And I'm supposed to be seriously considering our relationship. Besides, I still have feelings for Ning, lots of feelings, and I shouldn't say yes to Po just so that he doesn't feel bad. Oh, damn! Dongwa was… right. I am stringing him along.

She sighed and looked down at the flowers. "Po, there's something we need to talk about. It's kind of important if we're going to be involved with each other."

"Sure. You wanna sit down? We can go back to the restaurant," he offered.

She shook her head. "No, I need to talk to you about this now." She took a deep breath. "Po, I really had fun on our last date. Honestly! But, um… there are certain recent events that… not that they affect how I felt about you, but they've sort of changed the circumstances in my life right now."

"Oh. I know this is kinda off-topic, but how do you feel about me?"

Clover smiled at him. "You're extremely sweet, and funny. You're always yourself, which is a good thing. However… you remembered when we, um, we kissed? When you dropped me off at my house?" A goofy grin spread across his face.

"Yeah…"

She felt her heart twist. This is going to be harder than I thought. "Well, not that it wasn't a completely enjoyable kiss, but, um, you see, there was no… spark."

Po looked confused. "What do you mean? There was tons of spark in there," he asked.

She bit her lip. "Well, maybe for you, but not for me. I didn't feel any igniting emotion. I just… I'm not so sure if I feel the same for you as you do for me," she explained. He looked down to the ground.

"Oh. I get it. I mean, what was I thinking anyway? You're so smart and pretty. Like I ever really had a chance with you." He started to shuffle off, but Clover intercepted him.

"Don't say that! You had as much of a chance as any other guy. I just didn't feel any romance between us. And that's what I'm looking for. I need excitement, I need passion! Po… you're sweet. But I need more than sweetness in a relationship. It's not that I didn't think you were good enough. I just need someone who will sweep me off my feet."

She cried out as Po lifted her bridal style into his arms. "See? I can sweep you off your feet!"

Clover laughed. "See? You're funny too. And you're the Dragon Warrior. You're totally worthy to date anyone you want. I just… don't know if you're right for me," she said, slipping out of his arms and standing back on her own two feet.

"But we had so much fun! I thought we were, you know, connecting. Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

"You didn't do anything wrong. It's me, really. I know that's the classic breakup line, but it really is me. Any other sane girl would be dancing around in little circles at even the thought of you asking them out. But, as most people who have known me all my life will tell you, I am probably the farthest thing from sane. It doesn't mean I don't like you. I think we should be friends. I have fun with you, Po, but you're more like a boy friend than a boyfriend, if you know what I mean."

Po shook his head. She sighed. "I mean, I can talk to you about stuff and get a guy's perspective on it before I do something stupid. Like… when you and I were talking about Ning." Her inner-self cringed. I am dumb. Not the best idea to bring up the guy who I thought I didn't like but I actually do like but who I'm temporarily not seeing so that I have time to work things out.

"What about him?" Po asked.

Clover decided to run with it even though it would pretty much bring certain disaster. "Well, you told me he was a jerk and that he deserved to have his ass kicked all the way to Mongolia. And that's what I wanted to hear at the time, so it made me feel better. But it got me thinking about Ning, too, and I realized that… maybe I wasn't giving him a fair chance."

"Speaking of him, is he still stalking you? Because that Wuxi fingerhold offer is still on the table," he offered.

She chuckled. "No, that's okay. But there's something that I think you should know about Ning." What the HELL are you doing, girl? Have you completely lost it, shut up before it's too late!

"Okay, shoot."

She sighed. "Well, you see… you really helped me to give Ning a real chance instead of just judging him before knowing him. And once I talked to him without insulting him, I realized that he wasn't such a bad guy. I made a villain where there wasn't one. And in the process, I not only hurt his feelings, but… I took advantage of you too."

Po looked confused. Her inner-self was going ballistic. DON'T DO IT, FOR HELL'S SAKE! DO YOU WANT NING TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO A PILE OF NOT-ALIVE GOO? But Clover battled past her flight instinct and stepped up. It's time to be a woman and tell the truth. Just imagine that it's Mrs. Tang's heart you're stepping on and not Po's.

With this advice giving her new-found strength, she finally owned up to her mistake.

"Po, the original reason that I agreed to go out with you was because I wanted to get Ning off my back. He kept asking me out, and it was really annoying, so I thought that if I was going out with you he would leave me alone. But then when I actually went out with you, I had a lot of fun and I've been carrying this guilt on my shoulders because I knew I was just using you. And the reason why you haven't been seeing me around was because I've been seeing Ning. As in dating him. I've been avoiding you because I didn't want to hurt you. And I'm sorry. It was completely selfish, and dishonorable, and I can totally understand if you want to scream at me right now. In fact, I encourage you to do so, I fully deserve it," she confessed.

Po wasn't going to deny it, he was hurt. He seriously liked Clover. He shook his head. "I'm not going to yell at you."

She looked up at him. "Really?"

"No. If anything, this is payback. I mean, four years ago, you had the crush on me and I turned you down. It was my loss. And now this Ning guy is the luckiest guy in the world, because he gets to have you."

Clover looked down at her paws, then took one of Po's and squeezed it. "I really wish I could love you. You're practically perfect in every way. But I don't. I'm so sorry."

He shrugged. "It's okay. I mean, there are other fish in the sea, right?"

"Po, honestly, if there's any way I can make this up to you…"

"No, everything's fine. Just as long as you're sure this is what you want," he insisted.

She let go of his paw and looked away. "I'm not so sure of that anymore."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed. "Ning and I just had a huge fight. Over practically nothing, really. But we both decided to take some time off from each other to get our lives together. I don't know if it's over, or if it's not, or anything. I'm so confused."

Po reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Love is always confusing. It's part of the contract that you sign when you start a relationship. Well, it's a metaphorical contract, but you know what I mean."

Clover cracked a small smile. "Thank you. You are seriously the most understanding and sweet guy that I have ever known."

He shrugged. "It's not really your fault completely. You were angry and confused. That's enough to make anyone insane." She chuckled, but stayed silent. "You want me to walk you home?" he offered.

She shook her head. "I need some time to think and be by myself. But thank you. And, um…" She took a deep breath. "Since Ning and I are done for an undefined amount of time, I would really like to give our relationship another try. If you want to, that is."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Seriously?" She nodded. "And you'll give me fair warning if you decide to go back to Ning? So that we can talk about it and make sure it's the right thing?" She nodded again. He smiled. "Sure. I'll pick you up tomorrow around two. So don't make any plans, 'kay?"

She grinned and laughed. "Sure. Two sounds great. And thank you." She reached up and kissed his cheek before turning away and heading home. After she was sure Po couldn't see her, she shook her head.

He's so understanding. I don't want to hurt him again. But Ning… gods, I am in way over my head.

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Luna Goldsun, and her constant support of Po and Clover being together. I know that all these plot twists with Clover's love life may seem pointless right now, but trust me, it will mean something in the end. And I know I haven't been exactly focusing on the main topic of Tigress and Dongwa's wedding, but trust me, there's a big plot twist coming up with that. I swear! But I can't reveal too much, I don't want to give anything away! As for my other fic, Matriarch, I'm really sorry for not updating that as much as this. But look at the bright side, the quicker I finish this, the quicker I can completely focus on that. And after I finish both of these fics, I have two new KFP story ideas lined up for possible posting. One is the story about Mingxia and Shan in their childhood and teens, and adulthood up to a certain point, but the other is a secret until I post it. So, about reviewing... PLEASE SEND ME ONE! All reviews are appreciated and taken into consideration when it comes to suggestions. Tell me what you love. Tell me what you hate. Tell me something, as long as you tell me! You can comment on the new story idea I just wrote about in this author's note too, because I really need to know if people would be interested in reading something like that. So click til' it hurts! And P.S., did anyone catch the reference in this chapter? Okay, I'm done babbling. Holla!