AN: Just a thank you to all who have reviewed on my previous stories, it truly means a lot. As for this one, I was struggling with the ending so I decided to split it into two for now. Here's hoping I can work through my block to get the ending satisfactory enough to publish as a second chapter. This one is sequel to 'Girl Talk' which is in its own right, a sequel to 'Seize the Day'. Never meant to start a series but here we are - oops!

Oh, and the Five are all aware about Po and Tigress in this one. I have an idea about how they all find out, but it's not truly devolved into something long enough to publish on its own just yet.

Supper for the students of the Jade Palace had always been mundane event, but ever since Po had joined their ranks as the Dragon Warrior, it was now one of the highlights of the day.

The basic premise was still the same. The Five and Po would gather in the kitchen when evening fell and Po would cook for them an array of different dishes: tofu, stir fry, noodle soup, dumpling stew, chow mein and lo mein, fried vegetables, chop suey – anything and more that Po learned to cook while working as an apprentice chef at his father's restaurant. He blended herbs and spices together like no cook the Five had ever had and brought to their lives a variety of flavour and taste. Even Master Shifu – who for many years had dedicated his diet to small portions of the blandest yet most nutritious of food – joined them every Monday night to share a meal made from Po's amazing cooking.

But with Po's great cookery skills, the panda brought with him a mighty appetite.

"Look, I'm sorry I ate the last of the bean buns." Po apologised sarcastically as he swiped the diced spring onions into the boiling pot of noodles with the edge of a knife. "But they just smelt so good!"

"You could smell them all the way from your room last night?"

Po hesitated. He peeked at the Five from over his shoulder with wide eyes. Technically, they were the 'Three' for now – Monkey and Crane had ventured into the village in search for more bean buns to replace the ones Po had devoured in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, Viper and Mantis both sat at the table, watching Po as he cooked.

"I mean…I couldn't smell them from my room. I-I just…was thinking about them, and I could remember how they smelled – and it smelled so good!"

"So…" Mantis patted his chin with thought. "You can smell…memories?"

"I mean, yeah? Can't you – if you think about it really hard?"

"Never really tried."

"Nope, me neither."

Po's mounting embarrassment suddenly melted away when he felt a large, warm paw touch his back. He turned his head a little more and saw Tigress slip closer to his side. She leaned in and reached around his body under the pretence of obtaining the utensils to set the table. Their heads were so close his breath tickled her whiskers, and Po could see the faint coy smile she gave to him privately.

"Perhaps, Dragon Warrior," Tigress said with a tinge of teasing to her voice. Their gaze locked on each other's eyes. "It would be best if you stopped thinking so hard? Then maybe these midnight feasts of yours would cease and we would actually have something to serve Shifu for dinner tonight."

Po gave a weak chuckle, too mesmerised by Tigress's amber irises to have fully digested what she had said. "Yeah...I guess so-"

"I can't believe it – I just can't believe it!"

The peace that had lingered in the kitchen that evening was suddenly broken. All conversation stopped and the four tilted their heads towards the infuriated shouting that echoed down the hall. Crane turned the corner and strode through the main archway, rolling his eyes with irritation. He caught the stares of the others and shook his head.

"Don't even ask – all I've heard on the flight back up here is this and that about-"

"You!"

Close on Crane's heels was Monkey. The golden langur leapt into the kitchen and balanced on one hand. He held two woven baskets in his other two (both filled with Mr Ping's home-made bean buns) and with his final hand, pointed a finger directly at Po.

"Who – me?" Po gawked and held a paw against the center of his chest. "What did I do?"

"You lied to me!" Monkey scowled deeply, his nostrils flaring with building fury. He narrowed his eyes in contempt. Po felt his stomach fall. "I can't believe that you prefer Tigress over me!"

Po gasped. His jaw swung open. "Tigress!" He cried accusingly, spinning to gaze at Tigress with watering eyes. "You told?"

Tigress, who had started to set chopsticks at the table in seven different places, froze and looked up in surprise. "What? I said nothing!"

"Oh – so you knew too?" Monkey swung on hand, throwing the bags of take-out bean buns on the table. With a flick of his tail, he leapt up onto the table and slammed his knuckles down on the wood in anger, provoking a cry of disproval from Viper. "Traitors! The both of you!"

"Well of course she knew, banana head!" Crane sighed with a wave of his wing and he walked around the table to take his seat. "They're in love – of course Tigress is going to be his favourite!"

"I'm talking about before they fell in love!"

"Monkey, get off the table!" Viper scolded.

"No!" Monkey replied, folding his arms stubbornly and sitting into a sulk. "I am angry!"

"You're acting like a child!"

"I am a child!"

"You're twenty five!" Mantis contributed to the growing volume of voices.

"That still makes me a child in monkey years-"

"-there's no such thing as monkey years!"

"Enough!"

Tigress snapped with such force that each of the others instantly ceased their shouting. They each twisted their heads to stare at Tigress with eyes as wide as plates, their mouths downturned and suddenly dry. Tigress, however, only raised an eyebrow and lingered her gaze on Monkey. "Monkey – listen to Viper and get off the table. Master Shifu will be here any minute. Now – what's going on? Why are you angry at Po?"

"He lied to me!" Monkey answered vehemently but he obeyed the tiger without question; he slid down from his seat on the table into an actual chair, but his furious scowl still prevailed on his face. "Po told me that I was his favourite member of the Five, and now I have found out that it's actually you! And you knew!"

"Wait – Po told you that you're his favourite? But he told me that I'm his favourite!" Mantis suddenly interjected, turning to Po in disbelief. "You lied to me as well!"

Po swallowed thickly. "Oh, boy…" He grumbled, taking a small step backwards and away from the two very angry Masters of Kung Fu. "Okay, okay! I shouldn't have lied - but - how did you find out? I mean – if Tigress didn't tell you, and I didn't tell you, then who did?"

"Mr Ping did," Monkey answered, sinking further into his sulk with each passing second. "He was serving us the bean buns and talking about how he is sorry he doesn't have any more souvenirs to give with purchases, and then he mentioned how he gave away your dolls by accident, and then he said about how important they were to you, and that you used to sleep with Tigress's doll in your bed because she was always your favourite Kung Fu Master!"

Mantis inhaled deeply with a gasp of shock and betrayal. Viper and Crane were both stifling laughs. Tigress's other eyebrow raised to match the other and she turned coolly to Po, fighting to keep the amused smirk from creeping onto her face. "Is this true, Po?"

"It was an action figure!"

"I don't care if you call it an action figure or a doll, I can't believe you lied to me." Monkey sniffed. "You told me that I was always your favourite of the Five! I shared my almond cookies with you, Po – my almond cookies!"

"And I shared my dumplings with you!" Mantis interjected, hopping up from the table to the back of chair. He stared up at Po directly with as much bitterness as Monkey did. "That's so not fair! – And how come Tigress is your favourite, hm? She never shared her dumplings with you! What does she have that we don't?"

Crane snorted. "Oh, I can think of one or two things," He mumbled to himself – but his words did not escape the sharp hearing of Tigress. The tiger reached out, caught him by the throat, and gave his neck a slight squeeze. Crane could only squawk in discomfort, his words now caught in Tigress's fist.

The rest of the Five paid no attention; Monkey and Mantis were still firing accusations at Po, whose sincere apologies fell on deaf ears.

"I gave you my almond cookies, Po! My precious almond cookies!"

"Yeah – lying to us for our food! That's a low move, you dirtbag!"

"Whatever happened to bros first?"

"Guys, guys, I'm sorry-" Po pleaded, his jade eyes bouncing between the two offended friends. He dodged a bean bun thrown at him by one of Monkey's many hands, only for Crane to join the shouting, protesting about how Monkey was wasting the bean buns he had flew down to the valley to collect.

"I can't believe you would manipulate to us like that! What other lies have you told, Po? How many?"

"Yeah, what's next, Po?" Mantis continued. "You're not really a panda? Your favourite food isn't noodles? You and Tigress aren't actually in love-"

"What?"

A seventh, hoarse voice cut through the petty quarrelling – and yet it was as familiar to the rest of the group as their own voices were.

A complete, stone-dead silence fell.

Six pairs of eyes turned to the doorway of the kitchen.

Master Shifu stood at the threshold, his large ears flattened against his head. The bottom eyelid of his left eye was twitching frantically, and his mouth gaped open. His grip on his wooden staff tightened so much that the wood began to groan, close to cracking.

The stomachs of all the six Kung Fu warriors simultaneously dropped. Monkey covered his mouth with two hands, and Crane's beak fell open with a creak. Viper's blood ran cold and her eyes bulged. Po dropped the chopping knife still in his hand, landing just an ich away from his toes. No one said anything; no one could even dare to breathe. Po and the Five could only stare at Shifu as their collective hearts ceased to beat - but Shifu's eyes were cemented only on Tigress.

Finally, Mantis gave an awkward, falsified laugh. "Just kidding?" He squeaked, but his last-minute ditch failed to work.

Shifu inhaled sharply though his nose and pressed his lips into a grim, almost undistinguishable line. "Tigress," He rumbled. "A word – now."

And with that, he stalked out of the kitchen with a scowl deepening on his face.

A raging panic filled every member of the group as they all looked at one another – all apart from Tigress. Her amber eyes only reflected an uncharacteristic anxiousness. She took one last glance at Po before putting down the rest of the chopsticks on the table and moved towards the corridor.

Po blinked, the spell broken, and wordlessly began to follow her. He reached out a paw to grab hers, but Tigress pulled away. She looked back, placed a paw on his arm, and gave the panda a small smile. "It's alright, Po," She soothed but her ears were still set back with uneasiness. "I'll be right back."

Po opened his mouth to argue but he hesitated. "Okay…" He croaked and gave a slight nod.

Appeased, Tigress turned away. She retreated from the kitchen without so much as a backward glance. The rest of the Five and Po listened with bated breath as her footsteps faded down the corridor.

Crane was the one who broke the horrified silence. "Well, who's funeral should we plan first?" He asked in full seriousness. "Mantis's – or Po's?"

Tigress followed the corridor out of the student's barracks, her heart beating like a warning drum. As she approached the threshold to the building, she saw Shifu's silhouette waiting on the veranda. His back was turned to her and his shoulders hunched. Tigress stopped and clenched her paws into fists.

With a deep breath, she stepped closer. "Master, I-"

"This is not the place," Shifu cut across her, his voice as firm and as cold as a blade. "Follow me."

Without another word, Shifu began to limp down the steps of the barracks. Tigress swallowed and glanced back over her shoulder. She took one last look at the warm orange glow emitting from the kitchen, before following her Master and stepping out into the cold night.