Oh boy, here we go again. Sorry for the long wait, been a bit busy in the past two weeks. Also, leave a review! It helps a lot. Enough with the talk, on with the show.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda!

Chapter-4

A Night to Remember

A cool breeze swept through the valley as sunset neared. Lanterns started lighting up, casting a golden glow throughout the decorated streets and generally dark alleyways. Villagers started filling in the streets, their chatter sparking the festival's start. Stalls and stands of all kinds: merchandise, food, clothing started being set up, and kids ran through the streets. The celebratory festival was about to begin.

Po hummed to a random tune as he finished the last of his chores. Tigress was busy wiping flour off of her apron and tidying the place up. Looking up from the counter, he could see it was starting to get dark, so he decided to ask her whether it was a good time to go back.

"So, ya wanna head back home?" He asked,

"Alright, you sure we're done with everything?"

"Yup, the whole feast, all done."

After getting that confirmation, she hung up the apron and started heading out the door. It wasn't as bad as she thought, cooking the whole day. But then again, she had Po along with her, just his presence was enough to liven up her day and she could do any long boring task if she got to do it with him, he just had that kind of effect. She remembered cleaning the training hall with him one day. The inhabitants of the jade palace had made this system of taking care of chores in teams of two, cycling through the week. They hadn't even realized when the day had passed and that they had finished cleaning long ago.

"Hey," His voice broke her out of that fond memory.

She stopped midway in the door and turned to acknowledge him. They locked gazes and he flashed her a warm smile,

"Thanks for helping me out." He said genuinely.

Shaking her head and returning his smile, she replied,

"No, thank you for allowing me to stay with you the whole time you cooked. I learned a lot about cooking and also had a great time."

"What can I say, it's always great to have you around." He replied almost instantly before catching himself and shaking his head in confusion. "One, I wasn't supposed to say that out loud. Two, that sounded way cheesier that it did in my head, but I mean it." He said, laughing at his own blunder and earning a chuckle from the tiger master as well.

"You don't tend to keep your thoughts in your head for too long when I'm around." She pointed out, smirking at him as he made his way over to her.

"I know, can't help it. Now let's get up there before we again get lost in another conversation." He said, knowing all too well how easy it was to get lost in long talks with her, as well as how easy it was to get lost in her. He could admire her all day, and it would still fall short.

"Agreed."

They both exited the kitchen and walked out to the dining area. As if on cue, Mr. Ping appeared through the entrance,

"Po! How was your day? Are you all done with tonight's preparations?" He asked.

"Yup."

"Oh, thank you son, you've been of great help to me. You too, dear." He said turning towards the feline.

Tigress was taken a little aback by the informal way of addressing her, and it felt different. But, a good kind of different. No one had addressed her that way before, of course not when it came to Master Shifu. It felt nice to have someone talk to you like you're one of their own, and it was a welcome change on the feline's part.

"Thank you, Mr. Ping." She replied courtly.

And after that little exchange, the pair left the establishment to head back up to their home to meet up with the others.

"Hey, uh, isn't it kind of pointless to go up, only to just come down an hour later?" Po voiced his thoughts to her as they began climbing the steps to the Jade Palace.

"Maybe, but we're a little bit messy and could use a little cleanup. And even if we didn't, it'd be great to increase your stamina."

"Alright, alright, fair enough." He conceded.

Again, surprisingly, Po didn't break a single sweat as they reached the top of the thousand steps.

"You're getting better at this, Po." She said resting her hands on her hips, an impressed look on her face.

"Thanks, but you already know the reason now." He said, his signature goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Charmer." She shoved her elbow against his side playfully as she stepped forward to knock on the giant gates.

"Doesn't make it any less true." He shot back.

She gave him an 'I-know' smile and took her place back beside him as they waited for the gates to be opened.

The gates swung open to reveal Zeng, who bowed to the two as they entered in. Giving Po an over the shoulder glance, she tilted her head backwards a bit as she started heading towards the hot springs, and called out,

"I'll go ahead and take a bath. You should go freshen up too, see you in an hour."

"Sure, see ya'. " He waved at her as she faded out of view, and decided to go for a little snack since he hadn't eaten anything after lunch.

As he made his way to the kitchen which was in the barracks, he laughed inwardly as he thought to himself, "Talk about the irony of the situation. Cooking whole day in a restaurant but not having eaten a single bite out of it. Oh well, at least I'll be able to grab a snack now."

-O-O-O-

An hour later, after having a little snack, a shower and a fur brushing, Po decided to head back to the palace gates to meet up with everyone as decided in the morning. Since he was the first one to make it there, he decided to kill some time by just looking out over the valley through the open gates, and what could he say, it was a pretty good view. The last of the orange hues caressed the valley as the full moon started rising in the west. The lanterns all over the place made the valley stand out and glow marvelously against the dark backdrop of the mountains. As he was admiring the view, he felt the presence of another being at his side.

Quietly, she slipped into place beside him, joining him in looking over the valley. He wasn't too startled by her sudden appearance since he'd gotten used to her doing that ever so often. Turning his head to look at her glowing crimson eyes. He thought the view was beautiful, but then he saw her standing by his side. Voicing his thoughts to her, he said,

"You look absolutely beautiful."

Her lips curved upward into a coy smile as warmth overtook her and she felt her cheeks heat up a little. No matter how many times he told her that, it never failed to make her heart flutter. Looking at him through the corner of her eyes, still keeping her head in the direction of the valley, she said, or more like questioned,

"But I didn't even wear a different vest." Which was true. All she did was change into a fresh and cleaner version of what she wore every single day, and yet here was her panda, looking at her with adoration in those deep jade green orbs, as if she was an angel who fell from the heavens. To him, she'll always be that way.

"I know." He grinned at her and turned back to the valley.

"You look good too." She said, finally tearing away from the view to take in his form standing beside her.

He stood with his arms crossed, back straight and bearing his signature smile. His fur glistened as he had just brushed it a few moments ago and his jade green eyes practically glowed with radiance. He too, hadn't changed much of his attire like her, just resorting to wearing another one of his patched-up shorts. She was noticing other subtle features too. His chest and arms were much more defined than the last time she remembered, and underneath all that -ahem- exterior, she could see the outlines of toned muscles. His posture was much better too, was he always like this or was she just beginning to notice more about him?

Why did she feel like she wanted to be held more by his arms? Not that she didn't enjoy or appreciate their previous hugs or exchanges, but she never felt so… in need of physical attention. She was basically craving for his touch, she wanted to held tight by her one and only, and she wanted to cuddle up against him just as they had done on their way back in the boat. What the heck was going on in her mind? She didn't find these ideas repulsive, of course not. She loved him, after all. But, how did it escalate up to this point? She felt a little dizzy as her mind spun with these questions. Once again, like the Kung-Fu master she is, she managed to get her emotions in control and with a deep breath, calmed herself down and waited for the black and white ursine to react to her previous statement, which undoubtedly was bound to evoke some hilarious reaction from him.

That one sentence though, immediately broke his robust posture as his confident smile transformed into a nervous one, and his cheeks burned red as he shifted his weight swaying lightly from one foot to other. He'd never been told he looked good by anyone ever before in his life, much less by the very personification and epitome of beauty, and it shocked him. But, it was a good kind of shock, the warm feeling came back in full force and enveloped his body and heart, he looked at her and managed to stutter out a flabbergasted response,

"T-Thanks, Tigress."

Tigress giggled at his state, she couldn't help but find it adorable when he got all flustered like that. Placing a paw on his chest, she looked deep into his eyes leaning a little closer to him and honestly assured him through her smile,

"I mean it."

He smiled back, and in his opinion, again, the day could not get any better. But before he could reply, they heard the voices of their friends closing in. Tigress retracted her paw, nonchalantly dragging it down through his fur as she did so. Po felt shivers of delight rack his spine at her touch, and his legs wobbled a bit, but he managed to regain enough balance to not fall back through the entrance and bounce all the way to the bottom. Tigress managed to hide her grin when she turned away as she felt him shiver due to her actions, turning her back to the valley to address the closing in warriors. Po followed suit, waving at his friends who waved back as they walked towards the gates.

"So, I take it that you two had a good day down at the village?"

Master Shifu asked with a knowing smirk, walking between them from behind where he had appeared out of nowhere. Both Po and Tigress paid no heed to his out of the blue appearance, they'd gotten used to him doing that over the years now. Po didn't seem to pick up on the smug expression their master carried on his face, but Tigress did, rolling her eyes at her father.

"Yep, how about you guys?" Po asked to the remainder of the Furious Five, who had come to stand a semicircle around them now.

"It was great, but I bet it's about to get better." Crane spoke for the group, with the rest agreeing with nods and cheers.

It appeared, that none of them wore any ceremonial clothing, everyone had worn the same things they wear every day, just that their attires were cleaner and better than their usual battle worn ones. Master Shifu was wearing a golden sash draped around his shoulders instead of the regular green one, but other than that everyone looked the same.

"Alright then, if everyone's ready, let's head down." Master Shifu gave the official commencement, and everyone took to the steps, idly chatting amongst themselves about what they did in their first off day in a long while.

Master Shifu led the group at the front, with Crane, Viper, Monkey and Mantis on the primate's shoulder taking the mid of the group, with Po and Tigress taking the rear.

Since no one else was at the back of the group, Tigress took Po's paw in hers and intertwined their fingers. They both looked at each other and nodded smiling.

"This would never get old for me." Po thought to himself.

As for Tigress, even though she couldn't really 'feel' his paws, it meant just as much to her as it did to him, so, she did it anyway.

Po and Tigress (more like just Po, with Tigress occasionally throwing in a word or two) talked about their day at the noodle-shop, and the others traded their share of things they did as they continued to walk down.

As they reached the bottom, their grandmaster turned to tell them the schedule of events,

"You are free to spend your time as you see fit, just remember to show up at Mr. Ping's where we will be holding the dinner feast after about three hours. I would also have a speech to make, with any of you welcome to share a few words of your own. That's all I've got to say, enjoy your time at the festival."

And with that, he turned and left the group to do whatever they wanted, heading straight towards 'Dragon Warrior Noodles and Tofu' for a few good rounds of Mahjong. The old red panda had grown quite obsessed over the strategic board game. Mr. Ping was the only one in his opinion who could rival late Master Oogway's level of mastery over the game, and it pleased him to no extent getting to go against the Noodle loving goose in what had become their routine tournaments.

Now that they were at the bottom of the steps, Po thought Tigress would retract her paw so as to not draw too much attention from his friends (-cough- Monkey and Mantis in particular -cough-) or the villagers. But, to his utter surprise and delight, she instead tightened her grip on his paw, and started leading him through the busy crowds that milled about in the festive setting of the valley.

The remainder of the Furious Five were too busy taking in the new look of the valley with the decorations to notice the two holding paws or getting away, and after realizing their missing comrades, they decided to head out their own ways to find something to do.

Both of them spent their time talking and laughing as they went from stall to stall. Po got Tigress to try out Mrs. Chong's famous 'festive stuffed chili' that he always used to eat whenever there was a festival around. To his astonishment, she simply took the entire chili and chewed it down, without a singular change in her facial expressions. She cracked into a fit of laughter when she looked at the panda who was stuck staring at her with a dumbfound expression.

"How the heck did you do that?!" He exclaimed, eating his own chili as he said. He thought he was the only one in the entire valley to have built up tolerance to the spice of Mrs. Chong, but apparently not. And heck, to make it even better, it was her first time trying it out! The first time he'd tried it, he refused to even touch anything remotely related to jalapenos for a month. "That, is severely cool." He added in his typical fanboy fashion.

She managed to control her laughter fit enough to formulate a response. "Your face told me that before you could." She said, laughing a little bit more. Man, did laughing really always feel this good? If so, why didn't she meet Po before? "Also, what is there about me that you wouldn't find severely cool?" She asked with an amused grin, drawing air quotes with her free paw at the last part.

"I don't think such a thing might exist." He said grinning, paying the gazelle her yuan for letting them try out her dish.

"I figured." She replied, as they walked to the next stall, something peculiarly interesting caught her eye.

"Is that… an action figure stand?" She asked Po, pointing with her finger towards the small commotion of kids formed around a wooden table with tiny replicas of the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior.

"Yep." Po affirmed.

"And you're not going to geek out over them?" She asked, surprised when he just waved at the kids and the guy tending to the stall and kept walking with her.

"Nah, I already have my own back in my room." He said sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, then turning to her continued, "Sides, why would I need replicas when I live with the real thing?" He smiled.

"I was wondering when you'd realize you're one of us now." She said, smirking back at him. He always seemed to act as if he was still below them, as if they were still his heroes. Whereas in reality, all of them accepted him as their equal, rather, they even looked up to him in some cases. He just didn't seem like he had wrapped his mind around that fact yet though, even after years of living with them under the same roof.

"Well, I do now." He replied, his eyes darted towards something that caught his attention, "Is that a limited-edition golden phoenix embroidery scarf?" He pointed out at a pretty looking dark red scarf with a golden phoenix etched onto it in a clothing stall (And seriously, what's with the long name? couldn't they just call it like, I don't know, 'phoenix scarf' or something?). Hurrying over to the place, he excitedly grabbed the garment off and without warning draped it around her neck.

"It looks great on you!" He exclaimed. The old deer who was the owner gave an approving hum of hi own.

A little flustered at his sudden actions, she replied,

"Uh, thanks Po."

"Want me to buy it for you?" He asked excitedly.

"No Po, it's too expensive. And though I must admit it looks good, it won't find much use if I were it's owner." She modestly replied, though touched at how Po didn't even give the price tag a second glance, willing to pay any amount if she wanted it.

"Eh, sounds fair." He agreed, not disappointed at all. He knew she wasn't one for clothes and accessories, but hey, trying on a few doesn't hurt.

All the while they roamed, talked and browsed through the valley's streets, their paws remained intertwined. And to both of their surprise, nobody paid it too much attention, and even those who noticed, waved it off as if it was natural. All for the better for the two, they supposed.

Tigress found herself enjoying every moment. She didn't know how she could thank Po for doing all that he had done for her both on this day and in her life in general, and this day was one of the best ones she'd had in a long time. And it most certainly was the best evening of her life yet.

They made their way towards the familiar turn of Po's father's shop, reckoning that it was about time they had to show up there anyway. As they rounded the turn, a marvelous sight greeted them. The entire alleyway had been turned into a restaurant, with tables as far as the eye could see and lanterns and banners galore. It seems that Mr. Ping had expected the huge number of guests and instead of keeping it limited to the restaurant's space, had temporarily extended it all the way across the street for tonight.

As they walked in through the entrance, they saw their friends already standing near the counter with their backs to the pair, conversing about something and laughing. As they neared the group and peered over, they saw what the commotion was about. Mr. Ping and Master Shifu were locked in a heated battle on the board of Mahjong, and the four were cheering them on.

Tigress decided to let go of his hand for now as they came to a stop near their friends.

"What's up guys?" Po jumped in, slapping Monkey's back and throwing an arm around Crane's shoulders.

"Oh, you're here Po, we were just enjoying ourselves looking at-" Crane started before an ecstatic and hyped up mantis interrupted him,

"Dude! Your dad's a literal Mahjong grandmaster! They've been at this since the past three hours and Master Shifu's got only two wins against his five!" He yelled, then after receiving a pointed glare from his master, who mind you, was right there in front of them, he quickly amended "Uh… no offense Master."

"None taken." Master Shifu shot back. Though his pride was valuable to him, he had to admit, this goose was damn good.

"Yup, you shoulda' seen em' at the world championships years ago, would've blown your mind." Po added casually.

"You were a professional player?" Tigress asked.

"That was long ago dear. I don't go to championships anymore, now it's just a free time hobby. I even got to play against Master Oogway once for the finals when he took part. He won, of course, but it still remains the best match of my life." The goose replied to her, though refusing to take his eyes off the board as he slid a piece forward.

The others held surprised expressions on their faces as they found out this new piece of information about the seemingly so simple noodlemaker. Well, all except Po that is. Po simply hummed and waved it off as if it was common knowledge.

As they were talking, Po noticed that something seemed different about the place. Then he realized that there were no tables or chairs in the center and they were all instead lined up along the edges of the walls of the establishment, leaving a large empty space in the middle. There were also a group of musicians in one of the corners on a small stage who weren't playing yet, but looked like they were getting ready.

"Hey dad, what's with the new arrangement and musicians?" Po asked,

Mr. Ping put his wing underneath his bill thoughtfully as he planned his next move, while answering Po simultaneously,

"Since the streets have been turned into our extended dining area, we'll shift the dance in here."

"Oh, yeah. That makes sense." Po replied.

Soon enough, the restaurant started filling in with villagers coming from all over the valley. Some had even travelled all the way from nearby towns to congratulate the dragon warrior and his allies. Lively music filled the air as the musicians started playing. Spectators along with the rest of the furious five except for Po and Tigress took to the tables lined at the edges to watch along as people danced to the beat. Viper sprang into action as soon as the music started, twirling and hopping around the place gracefully with a ribbon that she'd remembered to bring along with her. She caught quite a lot of attention and people started clapping along to her performance, bringing smiles across the remainder of the Five's muzzles.

Tigress was leaning with one hand on the counter, observing from afar as Viper and the others danced along to the melody. Out of her peripheral vision she saw a black paw reach out to her.

Turning to acknowledge him, her eyes met with a sea of emerald, radiating with enthusiasm as Po looked at her with a goofy grin, and in again trying his best to imitate a polished accent, said to her,

"Would you do me the honors of giving me a chance to dance with you, my lady?"

A fond smile erupted across her muzzle and without any hesitation or thought about what she was agreeing to, wholeheartedly took his paw in hers and replied in her own polished sense, though it sounded much more refined than Po's version,

"Why, sure, fine young man."

Po's face practically lit up and his grin transformed into the happiest smile she'd seen on his face. Without keeping her waiting even for a moment more, he pulled her off the counter and led her to the dance floor.

"Hey, just to give you a heads up, sorry if I suck at this, it's my first-time dancing." He whispered to her in a low tone.

With a shake of her head and a reassuring smile, she eased his worries by replying,

"It's alright, so is it mine."

"Alright, then let's learn this thing together!" He said turning to her once they reached a comfortable spot. They didn't take to the center since they didn't know how good they were going to be, and they didn't want to draw too much attention either. So, they settled for a spot which was half way between the dead center-where Viper currently was-and the counter they were earlier at.

She placed her free paw on his shoulder, the other one already intertwined with his, as his free one supported her back.

"Ready?" He asked, grinning.

"As always." She grinned back.

They started by lightly pacing back and forth to the beat, shuffling their feet around. They did this for a minute or two until they found they were doing pretty okay with just swaying to the beat, so Po decided to kick it up a notch. They started circling each other, with every alternate step Tigress crossing her leading leg behind his receding one. At the end of their third circular repetition, Po used their momentum and let go of her back, allowing himself to lean away a little as Tigress spun away from him in a graceful twirl. She laughed throwing her head back and arm out as she spun in a circle away from him as far as their connected paws allowed, and then reversed the direction of her motion as she circled back to him.

Po was ready and caught her back as she gently collided with him, using their backward momentum to back-step into the dance. She was now with her back pressed to him as he held both of her paws. It reminded her of their time spent cooking earlier, it was a similar embrace, but it felt much better. She couldn't help but smile as she noticed how the two of them morphed their bodies against one another, perfectly molding into the embrace. He let go of one of her paws and wrapped it around her midsection, extending their linked paws outward as he led her, the pair doing a few spins and twirls as the moved around.

"You're really good at this Po." Tigress said, looking at his face as he rested his chin on her shoulder. She felt him smile and his warm breath over her neck sent a shudder of delight across her body.

"So are you." He shortly replied, letting their dance do the talking for him.

Viper saw the two slowly and unconsciously inching towards the center and decided to let them take it from here, since she was getting worn out and wanted to take a little break anyway. As she made her way back to their table, she saw the hilarious faces of the boys with their jaws-and in Crane's case beak-dropped low to the ground as they unbelievably watched China's two most powerful warriors gracefully dance around with like they were doing this for the millionth time. She giggled at their reaction and decided to say something to snap them out of their shock.

"They're amazing, aren't they?"

"Totally." The three replied in unison, finally picking up their jaws from the floor.

Mr. Ping and Master Shifu briefly paused their heated game to look up at their son and daughter, and with knowing smirks and head shakes went back to their game. The villagers, both spectating and participating, were also slowly starting to notice the two. Finally, even the musicians playing noticed and keeping up the lively beat, they subtly added a romantic undertone to the song.

Neither of the two from the blissful pair noticed the changes, nor the fact that they were drawing closer and closer to the center. Simply ignorant of the rest of the world as they allowed themselves to be entranced and lost in the other's embrace and presence.

They danced their way right into the center, and as they arrived there, Po swung her around, sweeping her off her feet in a similar fashion to the 'double-death-strike' move, but in a more fluid and graceful fashion to match their setting. Tigress howled in laughter as she was launched vertically into the air, performing an elegant twist and flip and landing back in Po's arms, where he caught her and held her bridal style, swinging her around and gently lowering her to her feet. The swinging allowed the two to continue dancing without breaking flow of the motion.

The pair didn't pay much conscious attention to the fact that literally everyone had stopped and formed a circle around them, watching the spectacle unfold. The audience started cheering them on with claps, whistles and shouts, the remainder of the five joining in the fray as well to support their friends.

The manifestations of Yin and Yang were completely oblivious as all of this went on, and as they gazed into each other's eyes, fiery amber irises meeting jade green orbs, both of them drew closer, Tigress turning to face him and slipping both her paws around his neck as Po wrapped his around her waist pulling her closer to him. Both of them had wide grins plastered on to their faces as they held each other close, their feet moving around in complex movements around the floor as they got lost in each other.

The beat started ramping up, signaling the song nearing its end. Their feet kept up with the quickening pace, everyone else clapping along. With the final beat concluding the end of the song, Po brought Tigress down in a grand dip, their faces hovering mere inches away from each other's as they looked at each other with blazes of passion dancing in their eyes, sweat trickling their brows and panting heavily, feeling each other's heavy breaths spill on their lips. Both of them were smiling uncontrollably. Tigress unlocking her paws behind his neck, brought back one of her paws and caressed his cheek, heartily blessing his ears with one more of her heavenly laughs, as they stayed in their position.

The crowd went wild and deafening cheers erupted through along with high pitched whistles as the two concluded their stunning performance. It was then that the two realized the others were watching along as well, and heat rose to both of their cheeks. Po's blush was much more visible than Tigress' but he didn't allow that to ruin the moment and instead of being startled and doing something stupid like letting go of her and possibly dropping her, he confidently grinned back and gently brought her back up.

To be honest, if it weren't for the presence of her father and literally the entirety of the village, Tigress would have just kissed him right then and there itself, and she was sure Po had the same thought too. They'd seen the undying love and passion they held for each other in their eyes, so there was no need to hold back on their already close feelings. But being a master of the jade palace and the Dragon Warrior, they had some expectations to live up to and an image to maintain.

Tigress' paw still resided on Po's face and his hands were still wrapped around her waist, and honestly neither wanted to let go. But, a grand performance like the one they apparently unknowingly pulled off required a proper ending too. Reluctantly pulling away from each other, the two turned to see the crowd still going crazy and cheering for them, and putting their fists in their palms, bowed to accept the praise bestowed upon them.

"You guys were incredible!" Mantis cheered through the crowd, hopping on Po's shoulder.

"How many times have you done this before?" Crane asked scratching his head, stumbling forth through the geese and pigs.

"Po, you never said you could dance before." Monkey added.

The two laughed at the overbearing questions their friends had and shook their heads as they made their way towards their original table. The crowd parted to allow the Furious Five and Dragon warrior to make their way through. Po and Tigress collapsed into their chairs exhausted yet exhilarated, their smiles not once leaving their muzzles.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Po then decided to answer a few of his friends' burning questions.

"You guys, you're too much." He said chuckling at the rest who took their seats. "I didn't even do much. Tigress did all the work," and before Mantis could open his mouth, Po beat him to it looking at the insect, "-and no, we haven't danced before."

Tigress, who was sitting opposite to him, rested her chin in her palms as she raised her arms and placed her elbows on the table, jumping in the conversation.

"You give yourself way too less credit Po. Instead, it was you who did all the work and I merely followed along taking your cues." She spoke.

Po rested his elbow on the table's edge as he leaned onto it,

"Thanks Tigress, you were really good too."

The musicians had now stopped playing and idle banter filled the air of the restaurant. Po could see more villagers arriving and taking to the tables set outside. Good thing his father had thought one step ahead, or else there wouldn't have been enough room to fit everyone in. Po thought.

"Viper," Po turned to the tree snake who was coiled up on the table, "you did great too." Po smiled at her which she returned.

"So, you're going to be taking ribbon dancing classes with me from now on?" She joked, the others chuckling at the image of Po twirling around with ribbons that formed in their minds.

Po laughed as well, "I might not be able to pull that off Viper" he said.

"Why's everyone gathered up here?" Monkey asked looking around, seeing all the villagers had taken to their seats and were patiently waiting for… something.

"Master Shifu's speech, remember?" Crane reminded.

"Oh, right." Monkey rubbed the back of his neck, all of a sudden feeling quite dumb about even asking that question.

A few moments later, Master Shifu walked out to the stage which was now vacated for him to come up there. He cleared his throat, gathering the attention of all those who were present.

"Good evening, citizens of the valley of peace." He began. "We have gathered here today to celebrate our Dragon Warrior's victory over Lord Shen of Gongmen City, whose reign of terror was prematurely put to an end before it could begin, by none other than the aforementioned warrior along with the rest of our protectors of the valley. We owe it to him, the Furious Five and Masters Croc and Ox that peace has been restored to China. We are thankful for their heroic deeds and their selfless dedication to protect those who cannot protect themselves, and for their tireless service to China and all her provinces being the bearers of justice. And with that, I conclude my addressal. Let the celebrations begin!"

The crowd clapped and cheered as the grandmaster of the jade palace stepped down from the dais and made his way over to his students who stood up and bowed to their master.

The diminutive master came to a stop near his students, and for once in his entire life, he let his true emotions show on his face. A proud smile crept across the red panda's muzzle and his turquoise orbs glistened with emotion.

"Well done students. I am proud of all of you." He spoke.

An unexplainable happiness washed over the band of heroes assembled in front of him, as they took in their first genuine words of praise from their master. Tigress felt especially elated since she had waited a lifetime to hear him say that at least once.

"Thank you, master." Po and five replied in unison, smiling at their teacher.

"Dinner is served!" Mr. Ping announced as he came out of the door to the kitchen with multiple platters and bowls balanced on his wings. Po quickly went to help his father, dragging a few tables to the center, making a long table to lay the buffet onto. Within moments, Po came out of the kitchen with his own share of platters, bowls, plates and pots all balanced on his arms. The Pings laid down the grand dinner on the long row of tables and since the food was just heated again moments prior, the steam carried and spread the delicious aroma all around the place, seeping out of the entranceway and engulfing the entire alley as well. Laying the delicacies in their places on the table, he rushed back into the kitchen to come back with an extra-large pot of 'secret ingredient soup', setting it on the ground near one end of the long table. He again went back inside only to come back with another extra-large pot of the same contents as the one he had brought before it, they were going to need all the 'secret ingredient soup' they could get if they were to cater to the demands of the entire valley.

Po also kept a stack of empty plates and bowls for everyone to use and grabbed eight of them to take everyone's dinner back to their table. He got everyone a bowl of the noodle soup, and took portions of each option available at the menu for everyone. Fried rice, Vegetable stir fry, Tofu, Congee, Dumplings, you name it. Each plate became a little crowded with the overwhelming amount of food to fill it with, but that's what festive feasts are all about.

The villagers too started taking their portions from the grand array laid out on the table, the inside of the restaurant filled up pretty quickly, since everyone wanted to be in the same room as the heroes of honor. The rest took to the tables outside which were filled up in matter of minutes as well. There were so many people dining at Mr. Ping's that if he had charged everyone for the feast, he would be living in his own jade palace by now. But, this one was on the house since it was a celebratory feast in honor of his son, and not some money making scheme, so the admittedly business-minded goose decided to lay off on the profits for once and just let everyone have a bite and have a great time.

He went over to their table, which was now joined with another one to make enough room for eight of them to sit at, and like he usually does, expertly slid the dishes into place with a swing of his arms without even spilling a single drop of soup from the bowls. Mr. Ping and Master Shifu joined the gang too, hence the two extra servings.

Mantis, ever the patient one, immediately dug in with no regard of table manners. Precariously leaning over the edge of his soup bowl as if he would fall in any minute, as he attempted to satiate his ravenous hunger while slurping up the bowl's contents. The others chuckled at the green insect, his appetite and size were total opposites it seemed.

Po slid into his seat beside Tigress, which had become second nature to the two by now. Any time they had to take a seat, they'd always be by each other's side, just like in battle.

"Mmm… this Tofu stir fry tastes amazing. It's different than what you usually do, but I like it nonetheless." Viper complimented, smacking her lips.

"Agreed, the fried rice tastes good too. Different… but a good different." Monkey joined in with his own observation, giving the panda an approving nod.

"Actually," Po began, a grin apparent on his face "I wasn't the one who made it, so I'm not the one you should be directing your praise to." He said.

The others held puzzled expressions as they looked at the black and white bear as if he'd grown another head. After all, he was the only one who cooked amongst them, except for Mr. Ping, of course. But from the way he was putting it, he didn't seem to be hinting at his goose dad, rather it was someone else. This made everyone's interest pique up and they paused eating to look up from their plates at the Dragon Warrior, even Mantis.

Po's grin grew even wider as he directly looked at the feline master sitting beside him, and proudly exclaimed throwing an arm around her shoulder, "It was Tigress! She made those, and not only that, she helped me with almost everything else too!"

The Master of hard style found her generally calm composure breaking and felt heat rise up to her cheeks as Po ever so sweetly gave her the credit that was due. She didn't expect him to make it sound that much better than what she had expected.

The remainder of the Five's eyes popped out of their sockets as they stared at the tiger and smirking panda that sat before their eyes. To say that they were surprised, was an understatement, since the last time they had seen Tigress cook, the entire palace kitchen almost went up in flames, and now here she was, making something that is ten times better than that, all within a day!

"Wow, you got Tigress to cook? And cook well at that? That's impressive, for both of you." Crane said, having discovered newfound respect for the pair sitting across him.

"Uh-huh, this is the best meal you've ever cooked!" Viper agreed. Tigress found it amusing how Viper's words almost mirrored Po's when he had given her the same assurance last night.

"I agree with the rest, Tigress. You've done a pretty good job for your first, well, technically your first-time cooking." Master Shifu joined in as well.

"Thank you, all of you." Tigress replied, smiling at all the praise she got. She even managed to get another compliment from her foster father, that's two in the same day!

The rest of the dinner went smoothly as everyone exchanged stories over dinner, taking a moment or two in between to compliment the panda, as well as the tiger for their cooking. All in all, as they finished eating, Tigress took a second to allow herself to sink in the moment and recollect the happenings of the day; Having started the day with the best spar of her life, then having spent the rest of the day with the person she held most dear… learning a few things along the way as well as goofing off with what had become their shenanigans, then having had a spectacular… and romantic, might as well she add, dance along with the said person, and finally to be sitting here, amidst this special group of people that she had now come to call family along with that special somebody sitting right by her side, whom she had to thank for giving her such a memorable day. If it weren't for him, she wouldn't have had even half the fun she had had today.

"Truly, this is a celebration and night to remember." She thought as she absently leaned a little to the side and rested her head on her panda's broad shoulder, an action which surprisingly went unnoticed by those at the table. Po's hand too instinctively wrapped around her, supporting her lower back as he held her. A soft content sigh left her lips as she closed her eyes and relished in bliss of the moment with the pleasant company of her Dragon Warrior and her friends and family. This, was definitely a great way to end an 'awesome' (in Po's words) day.

How did I do? feel free to let me know. Also, I do realize that the dinner part got a little repetitive as you've seen that in a previous chapter, but I hope it wasn't too bad. Also, this was my first time playing around with more concrete feelings. This time used much more stronger emotions and words to convey the growth in their relationship, and I hope it isn't breaking their character. If it is, you're more than welcome to give suggestions. How was the dance scene? I think it was okay-ish. I think I've ranted on long enough, so until next time, Lightning out!