Chapter 3:

Po was stuck at a place he's seen way too much to count: the sleepless discomfort of his bedroom. Most of the time, he would be grateful for something like this, as it could be spent just contemplating about life in general. This was not one of those times.

He had a big decision to make. The New Year's Festival was coming up- it was in one more day, he had to find someone, and fast. Song was already disqualified from his mind; he wasn't going to swoop that low to have feelings for someone that only saw his worth in gold. He had to admit, Song was beautiful, but her heart wasn't, and Po didn't want to associate himself with someone like that.

Po's thoughts drifted to what was said yesterday. Most of the guys had at least someone to court on. All except for one.

His heart belonged to one person, and one person only. One person that he wished felt the same about him: Tigress. Oh Tigress. A name that only he knew how to appreciate.

Despite it literally meaning a female tiger, it also meant a fierce and passionate maiden. Tigress was an absolute master of Kung Fu, he saw it every day. How her eyes glistened every time she perfected a move. How her heart pounded with a roaring fire every time she was pushed to her limits. How after being dragged to the graves of surrender, her warrior spirit and pure desire never faltered her fall purpose. All of these things were what made Tigress special.

She was a role model. She was a loyal friend. She was a strong ally. She was a trustworthy confidant. She was a life-long companion. She was an amazing girfrl-

"PLEASE NO!"

Po jumped at the sudden voice ringed all throughout the barracks, tearing the silence which once was. Someone screamed! Without thought, Po rushed out the door and into the hallway. Vigorously sweeping his head left and right, he noticed no one else was coming out of their bedrooms- was it just my imagination? The snores of his comrades were still prevalent in the night atmosphere; it was as if nothing even happened. He didn't want to give up the search too early, but this, along with his tugging insomnia, led him to one conclusion.

"Must've just been in my mind." Po whispered to himself, narrating his thoughts out loud, "It still felt way too real though."

With a simple shrug, he started returning back to his bedroom. "I'm going to stay alert though. If I hear so much as a whisper I'm gonn-"

"PLEASE NO NO NO NO!"

This scream felt real. Way too real. Po didn't hesitate, and immediately turned back out the door. The sound felt like it came from one of his friends' rooms. He listened carefully again to hear any sounds; he heard that crying sound again. The same cry that was present yesterday. He followed the sound until he was in front of one door, and he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw which one it was.

Tigress's? Why would she be crying? Did she get hurt? Is she safe? I have to go in. Po reached for the doorknob, but right when he was about to hit contact, he felt an invisible barrier. His hand shook intrepidly while his heartbeat fastened. This feels wrong. Tigress isn't the one to display emotional feelings like that in front of danger or pain. It's either she stabbed her chest, or I'm about to invade something that's much more private. Everyone deserves to let go of their emotions, and so does Tigress.

His mind was in conflict of what was to be done. One one hand, it would be right to go comfort Tigress and ask her what's wrong, but on the other hand, it was also wrong to imprudently disturb her alone time and to potentially make things worse.

He never noticed, however, that as his mental battle raged on, the door knob slowly started to rotate to the right. With a swift opening, the striped tiger herself was standing in front of a startled Po.

But something was different about her. Her usually glowing and fiery eyes seemed to now only kindle in the dark; their flame was well-extinguished. Her fur was all ruffled up, and her usually furry cheeks were replaced with knots and matted patches of fur. There was a sunken weight in her eyes that pulled down her whole body, making her somewhat slouch at the doorway. Something was really wrong.

"Tigress I... Are you ok?" Po's concern was evident in his tone of voice. He was really worried about her. "You don't look so good." To Po's surprise, however, she didn't respond. She kept on idly looking at him without blinking an eye. Everything was silent for a while, until Tigress spoke two, soft words.

"Come in." She left him no room for complaint as she turned around and walked in, slightly tugging on his wrists. Her wrists were damp, which concerned Po all the more. After walking into her room, he saw for himself how much of a mess it was.

Her pillows were not on her bed, and were instead scattered on the floor. There was a small puddle on the floor that was suspiciously transparent. And to top it off, there was a fresh new scratch on her cupboard that he didn't remember seeing when he last came in here.

"Take a seat." Tigress asked. She sat down on the bed, and patted a spot next to her. Po obliged, and while doing so, eagerly awaited what she was going to do next. There was another long pause of just Tigress absentmindedly looking at Po, as if she was deep in thought about something.

Po was questioning as to why Tigress was so silent. She's going to kill me isn't she. What was I thinking just standing in front of her room like that in the middle of the night? It was none of my business to begin with. Just pray that you walk out of here alive.

Expecting to be asked to leave her alone with several claw marks on his body and with slightly less manlihood, Po shook in trepidation. He was petrified.

"Tigress… You're scaring me." Despite his pleas, Tigress bore no witness to them. Po was beginning to get a little bit impatient. "Tigress, if there's something wrong, then you know you can tell me- OOF!"

Without warning, Tigress started to break down. She rushed him with a big hug, burying her face deep into his shoulder. She had an iron grip on him; she clung onto him for dear life, as if her life would fade should she ever let go. Suffice to say, he wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm so sorry Po." Tigress whimpered while beginning to cry. She didn't hold anything back as the tears kept on coming, continuing to soak the fur of her panda. Her warmth encompassed Po, which gave him a sudden confidence that only she could coax out of him.

"Sorry for what? Please, tell me everything Tigress, I want to help you." Po said while quickly hugging back.

"I-I've been suffering from-m some e-emotional stress," Tigress said in between sobs, refusing to leave Po's shoulder, "And I-I just had a b-b-bad dream, and all of a sudden, I couldn't take it anymore."

Po's heart melted when he heard those words. God love the poor soul. Po couldn't stand to see her suffering. To see such a mighty and valorant figure like Tigress turn to a vulnerable and feeble being really did move something in his soul.

Po slowly lifted Tigress's head up and started to look into her eyes. The fire that was so familiar deep within those vermilion hues was right where it belonged, it was as if his own warmth reignited the flame that he grew to love so much.

"Do you mind sharing to me what this dream was about?" Po caringly whispered, snaking his hand to cheeks.

"It was about you… I thought she- It was when… Is it ok if I d-don't feel like talking about it?" Tigress asked, nuzzling the hand that was on her cheek.

"Of course, Tigress. Anything to make you feel comfortable." Tigress let out a small chuff; she seemed to be turning back to her normal self.

"Would you mind if you held me for a little longer?" Tigress sheepishly asked ; Po brought her closer, while Tigress rested her head back on his shoulder.

He didn't dare let go of her for the rest of the night.

When sunrise eventually struck, Po still didn't want to leave the embrace of his striped tiger. Her body radiated a warmth that he never knew he so desperately needed. Was this love? One thing was for sure though: he liked this feeling, and he didn't want it to end. Neither now, or for the rest of his life.

The tiger in his arms was lightly asleep, softly purring while her head took refuge in the crook of his neck. He gently set her down, making sure to not wake her up, before carefully tiptoeing out of the bedroom.

When he closed the door and turned around, however, there was a smiling Viper right at the door.

"Someone seems happy." Viper teased. She enjoyed seeing the red in his cheeks grow more and more evident the more she reminded him of her.

"What is it, Viper?" Po irritatingly asked. He knew exactly what she was getting at, but he didn't want to let her win that easily. She probably knew this too, but it was good to see her play along.

"Po, you know how snakes hear with their jaws, right?" Instead of hearing through ears or through other external limbs, snakes had a complicated hearing system that spanned their heads to their jawbones, which picked up vibrations from the air and not necessarily sound waves.

Because of this, snakes had the ability to pick up low-sounding noise that other animals may miss, including Po and Tigress's whispering.

"Yea…?" Po timidly answered back; he knew where this was going.

"So last night, I heard the whole thing. You comforting Tigress, her asking to hold you- everything!" Viper squealed in excitement.

"Wait, you were awake last night?"

"Po, she screamed in her sleep. Everyone was awake. We just didn't disturb you because we wanted to give you guys your moment."

"Oh." Po's cheeks were now bright red, and there was no stopping it. "Well anyway, why are you standing out here?"

"Why am I standi- oh yes! Follow me, I want to discuss a few things with you. A few things that you will definitely want to hear." Viper started to slither off to her room, and she did rather swiftly. Po almost stumbled trying to keep up, she was certainly eager to say the least.

When the two of them were within the confines of Viper's bedroom, everything seemed to get just that little bit more embarrassing. Viper was pulling a wide mischievous smirk that meant no good.

"Ok, so why did you bring me he-"

"Before we start this, just tell me, you love Tigress, right?" Viper spoke to his soul with indisputable clarity. Viper clearly had an objective, but Po couldn't determine what. But then thinking about it again, was it really that obvious that he had a thing for Tigress?

Po had two options here: to either lie, or to just tell the truth. Following option one would probably end the conversation right there and then, and nothing would change. Option two, however, gave a variety of possibilities, and there were some that he definitely wanted to explore…

Yes, Po could keep his near life-long love interest to himself, but would that be the best outcome?

No… No, I can trust Viper.

"Um… I guess you can say that?" Po queasily replied; Viper was not amused.

"Do you love Tigress?" Viper responded again, but this time she spoke with a hint of venom behind her words. She was serious about this.

"Fine," He sighed, "I've loved Tigress since I was a teenager, I-"

"Perfect, that's all I needed to hear!" Her serious expression softened into her cheerful self again, as she smiled wide towards Po.

"Jeez Viper, you didn't have to scare me half to death."

"Sorry about that, I just had to make sure that you were serious about this."

"Well, what's up?" Po asked while taking a seat on the floor, while Viper coiled up on her bed. They were more or less at the same height anyway.

"Ok, this is going to be a serious talk, so if you have anything to do or get out of the way, then now would be the time to do so."

Po didn't leave.

"Ok then. Between you and I, Tigress is clearly not behaving like herself. She's suddenly not talking to us as much, and we can see it in places like the dinner table and such. She's usually completely zoned out, as if she's always thinking about something really important. Sometimes as well, it's just impossible to find her. Not in the Barracks, not in the Training Hall- nowhere! But worst of all, I'm starting to see her cripple up and break down. This is Tigress we're talking about!"

"Wait a second, Tigress has been sad beyond her bedroom?" Po's words were laced with concern, which didn't go unnoticed.

"Sometimes, she just curls up by the Peach Tree. Other times, she has total breakdowns in the Bamboo Forest. Yesterday, I caught her punching herself in the Training Hall when she thought she was alone, and to then have her cry that same night? I had to do something about it."

Viper always viewed Tigress as someone she could rely on- she was more or less the stone pillar of the group. Before, Viper would only consider Tigress as a colleague and an acquaintance, but when Po came along, she now called her sister. Everyone loved this side of Tigress, so Viper was quick to voice her concern when something wasn't right.

"We have to do something about it." Po said, "We can't keep her like this."

"And that's where you come in." Viper returned a smile while Po was left… mildly confused. That's where I come in?

"I was thinking about something the other day. What would make Tigress sad if she didn't hold value for tangible things? She doesn't care about anything like money, and we already know she's practically immune to pain, so what would still make her cry? I have one idea however…"

"And what idea is that?"

"It's clearly emotional trauma, because nothing else makes sense. She doesn't really care that much anymore about seeing her parents, and Shifu treats her pretty good now, so that only leaves…" Vier now turned her eyes to Po, indicating for him to finish the sentence.

"Yea?..." Po naively said.

"There's one emotion that she hasn't felt her whole life, which is…"

"I still have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ugh, the one emotion that she now needs more than ever." Viper was getting frustrated at the Panda's stupidity. It was slightly cute that everyone knew about Po and Tigress… Except Po and Tigress. Shifu also didn't know, but that was for the best.

"Does she need friendship and hapi-"

"LOVE, PO! SHE NEEDS LOVE!" Viper shouted at the Panda, before suddenly feeling guilty after looking at his distraught face. "I'm sorry for shouting at you, but you're so oblivious!"

"What- do you want me to share my feelings for Tigress?"

"Not necessarily, but yes. Tigress hasn't received love from practically anyone in her whole life, and with the Festival coming up, her inevitable self-epiphany of lovelorn feelings was all but delayed. And when your lover takes love tokens from other people…" Viper angrily glared at Po.

"How do you know about that-"

"Shush, you don't need to know. Anyway, when that happened, Tigress thought her one and only chance of love was gone. Now this is what you have to do."

Po felt devastated. Had he not taken that gift from Song, Tigress, his true crush, wouldn't be feeling like this right now. He was stupid to bring the scent of another feline into the Jade Palace, and now he had to look at the consequences. Po had a building will of determination inside of him: he was going to do ANYTHING to help Tigress.

"Tell me."

"Ok, what I think you should do is approach Tigress, give her a casual hug, and tell her that you would like to take her out for the New Year's Festival. Then, all in the same day, prepare a sort of romantic dinner for her, in which you will then pour out your feelings for her. Afterwards, show her just how much you love her during the festival by taking her out for the whole day. If everything goes to plan, not only will Tigress feel better, but you will also have the woman of your dreams by your side!" Viper took a deep breath after spilling out that mouthful. She then turned to Po to gauge his reaction. She was pleased with herself.

"I like this plan. But knowing me, I'll probably mess something up." Po honestly said.

"So all you have to do is just don't fail." Her mischievous grin didn't make him more comfortable. "That's all I wanted to say. You can leave my room now. You better help her Po. Do it for me. Do it for all of us." Viper patted his shoulder with her tail, before guiding him to the exit. He was just about to walk out before…

"Oh, and one more thing. Whatever you do, don't scratch the back of Tigress's ears." Viper gave him one last wink before slamming the door in his face.

Po had a lot to think about, and his mind was certainly a mess right now, but if there was one thing for certain, it was that Po was going to help Tigress.

No matter what.

To be Continued...

Author's note:

Another chapter done! Sorry for the procrastination for this chapter! I'm going to post again in hopefully 4 days, but if I don't meet that deadline, just add 4 more to that number to account for my procrastination ;) .