Chapter 2:
Po woke up on a day like any other. The silence was consuming as always, leaving him to face nothing but his own grim. There were two days left before the New Year. He got up to the door, getting ready to train, but then realized Shifu gave him the next days off. I must've unnecessarily trained yesterday then.
Despite him being an obviously lazy person, training was a sort of escape from having to think, in a sense. Training was just an easy way to do nothing; despite the two terms sounding rather collocated with one another. Instead of having to go through his thoughts and current emotions, Po would just dilute them with hours of training. Was it just a poor excuse for being lazy? Hell if he knew.
Po walked to the kitchen to get an early snack; the others were most likely there as well. Entering the kitchen, he noticed that the place was full of excitement. The kitchen was decorated with several Chinese red lanterns. A few red candles were placed at the center of the table. The Furious Five were in what seemed to be a heavy conversation.
"I know you couldn't find anybody!" Shouted Crane, pointing a wing towards Mantis.
"As a matter of fact I do. Her name is Hikara!" Mantis shouted back.
"Heh, I have Mei Ling, Viper has that other snake, and Monkey has that other person. What's her name again?"
"Her name is Akasuki. She lives down in the village." Monkey replied.
"Then that just leaves Tigress. Who do you have?" Viper asked. Tigress remained silent for a while, before somewhat scrunching her face.
"I… I don't have anyone yet." The others gasped in surprise.
"Wait, you really don't have anyone?" She shook her head. "I'm genuinely surprised that someone like you doesn't have rows of people lining up for them."
"Why would someone want to be with a rough and serious person like me?" Tigress asked.
"Well, first of all, you're really beautiful. More beautiful than pretty much anyone in the village." Viper said nonchalantly.
"Thanks Vip-"
"You have a nice and slender frame, and you have a cute temper to go with it. You'll find someone eventually, I know it!"
Tigress sighed while looking to the ground. She seemed to have a heavy weight on her shoulders; only Po could tell. With him being the closest to the striped cat, he was able to pick up on things about her that others would miss, like when she would sweep her tail in a U-shape when she was nervous, or when her ears would plateau and flatten when she was sad. This was another one of those times.
"I hope so." Tigress half-heartedly said while staring at the ground. Po took this as his queue to leave; no one noticed him up to this point, so it was best not to disturb them.
Walking down the Thousand Steps were now a breeze. Well, by breeze it was more or less the pace of a normal person, but that was a significant feat for a panda to say the least. There was much to do down at the village. With the New Year's Festival being a short yonder away, the place was buzzing with excitement. People were running left and right to fulfil errands for the festival, whether it be to gather decorations or to buy food for the event. It was definitely a pleasant sight to see, and it always prevailed in putting a small smile on the Dragon Warrior's face.
You would think that crime would be rampant during these times, but to some miracle, even the most desperate crooks around China packed it up for a few weeks. It was simply a good time to be alive.
Po went to his father's shop to make sure everything was ok. The place wasn't as busy as usual, which eased the atmosphere to a more comforting tone. The restaurant was also no different to the other buildings around, featuring its own set of lanterns and banners.
Mr. Ping was behind the chopping board as usual, aggressively slicing away.
"Hey dad." Po called out.
"Oh hi son." Mr. Ping replied, not turning his eyes to the panda as he walked into the kitchen.
"Are you sorted out for the New Year?" Po got on an apron and started pouring soup into bowls.
"Yeah, I'm fine… Oh son, while you're here, could you serve the bowls to all the present tables, every customer ordered the same thing. Also, stay as a waiter, will you? I need to fix something up for the festival." Mr. Ping proceeded to walk away to the storage unit, presumably going to fetch something from the back.
Po simply shrugged his shoulders and started picking up the bowls. All the customers were hooded, which made their faces hard to see. Po started passing out the bowls to the customers, sometimes receiving a small 'thank you' afterwards. Soon enough, he was down to his last bowl, and there was one final customer in the corner of the restaurant.
However, what caught Po's eye was that under the chair, there was a small gray tail in between the two back legs. It's really rare to see a feline around these parts of China. It was also strange that he thought their red shirt was vaguely familiar for some reason, almost as if he's seen it somewhere before. Po knew nearly every person in the Valley, and only two were felines. It couldn't have been Tigress, since her tail is orange, which only left room for one final person. One person who he was all too familiar with. That person was-
"Hey Po." The figure removed their hood, revealing their black and white face. That person was none other than Song.
"Long time no see, eh?"
There was an awkward silence for a moment, until Po snapped out of his reverie, and figured out that now it was his turn to speak.
"Yea uh… It's good to see you too," Po took a seat opposite of Song.
"So, how's everything going?"
"Everything is fine I guess. You?" A while after the defeat of Kai, Song moved into the Valley. 'It must've been because her previous home got destroyed' Po would think to himself. After her initial move in, Song has, for the most part, remained relatively quiet and low-key. It was the first time in the past two years since he's seen her again.
"The same as always. Well, what brings you to the restaurant?" Po half-heartedly chuckled after he finished that line; Song somewhat scrunched her features in response.
"Can't a woman just eat where she wants, huh?" There was a long pause after a while. Song could clearly tell something was troubling Po. Po wasn't really… discrete with his emotions.
"Po… What's wrong?" Song moved her paw up to his hand, and delicately stroked it up and down, "You can talk to me."
"It's just that… I don't know what to do for the event."
"What event?"
"The New Years Festival."
"Ohhh…" There it was again: that awkward silence. Po fumbled with his hands while Song repeatedly opened and closed her mouth again. There was clear tension in the air; the two were alert for what seemed to be no apparent reason. Po's eyes found interest on the hard wood of the table, while Song looked like she was solving a very hard math equation. More and more snow piled up on the table as more and more silence occupied the conversation. It was a lengthy while until said silence was broken.
"So… Have you found anyone yet?" Song tenderly asked. Po's face lifted up for a second, before melting back down into a solemn frown.
"No, not yet. I'm probably not going to find anyone either." Po replied, slowly sinking back down into his seat.
"What makes you think that? You are the Dragon Warrior after all."
"That's exactly the reason why I won't find anyone. People don't bother to look past the grand title. I want someone to see me as the person I really am, and not just some special figure that's showered in bling and fame. You're right, I probably could find someone. Heck, even if one thousand people walked up to me right now and said that they wanted to be with me, I would decline every single one, because they wouldn't be there for Po Ping the noodle guy, they would be there for Po Ping, the Dragon Warrior."
"Po, I never knew you felt this way-"
"And besides, why would someone want somebody like me? I'm not what comes to mind when you think of a handsome young man. I'm just a clumsy panda with the weight to show for it. Name one positive attribute about my looks."
"Uhh…" Song took a while to answer, which continued to prove Po's more and more by the second. However, Song seemed to feel hurt with Po's statement. Her eyebrows aggressively furrowed, and her claws slowly started to unsheathe, brusquely disturbing the otherwise harmonious and smooth wood that was part of the table.
"You're nice and plushy. You're like one big teddy bear!" Song professed, "You being big isn't a bad thing Po."
Po only gave a deadpanned face while slightly raising his eyebrows.
"You really think my weight is a good thing?"
"Po looks don't matter. A true person would look past that, and will only take value to your personality. Po, even if you don't believe that you aren't good-looking, you have a heart of gold, and that's better than any pretty face."
Po was shocked to say the least. Does Song really regard and think of me like that? It was amazing to see how far a reformed criminal can go. People who only regarded personality in this day in age were rare gems to be cherished.
"Ever since you came into my life, it's only gotten better. You made me turn away from crime. You integrated me into society. You looked past my criminal record, and you somehow saw a candlelight of hope that even I didn't see. I can only thank you Po. Without you, I would probably be rotting in a jail cell right now." Song's grip on his paw tightened. Po's shivering and melancholy seemed to slowly blossom into a cheerful spirit.
Po saw a glimmer in her eyes that he had never seen in anyone else. Well, no one but one other… But now was not the time to think of her. Her pupils expressed a longing that felt unfamiliar. The scintillating light that bounced off her retinas expressed a sympathy that Po didn't know how to interpret. The kindling fire behind her mask bared a flame that felt… dangerous? He was confused at first, but the more he looked at her, he knew it to be true.
Her eyes of love slowly turned to eyes of salaciousness. Her fangs slightly twitched, as if showing impatience towards prey. After pouring her heart out; after nearly convincing him that she wasn't all bad, her salacious intent crept in all too soon. She wasn't the right one meant for him. He had to get out of here, and fast.
"Actually, I don't have anyone either for the event, and as much as I would like you to be with me for that day, I can't force you. Here, take this." Song produced a small leather box from her pocket, and gingerly handed it to Po. It felt cold to the touch.
"If you truly reciprocate my feelings, open that box, and then come back to me." Song said. Po tucked it into his back pocket. It was probably going to sit there for a while.
"I'll see. I need time to think. I hope you can understand." Po lied; Song beamed back.
"Of course, take as long as you need. In that case, I hope you have a good day." Song took Po into a small hug and kissed his cheek. A red lip print stayed implanted onto his fur.
"You too Song." With those final words, Po took his exit, not bothering to report back to his dad nor return the apron he was wearing. If Po had to say one thing he learned from that experience, it was that love can be deceptively dangerous. Love is a very delicate feeling that takes time to build. If one indulges too deep in its properties, or if one rushes love too quick, they can only expect horrible results. Similarly, if love is done with the wrong person that isn't right for them, then no love will build, but instead a cancer will manifest.
People sometimes hide their ulterior motives under a deceitful appearance, in order to trick people inexperienced in the true concepts of love, like what happened with Song. That was a close call.
However, while Po was walking back up the Jade Palace steps, he failed to notice one feline who had seen the whole scene play out. One tiger who had patiently watched the exchange between the two. To stay hidden, she had to move quite far away; to the point where she couldn't hear the conversation, but only watch the event unfold.
A couple of tears fell from her eyes. Her heart seemed to fracture before her very eyes. Everything seemed to slowly break away from reality. If only she knew the truth.
"It can't be…"
To be continued…
Author's Notes:
Sorry for the long wait; I had to sort a few things out. Expect updates every 3-4 days now!