AN: I watched Kung Fu Panda Holiday over the holidays and well, got back into Kung Fu Panda again! It may be a bit late, but hey - it's here!
This little one-shot takes place the same night as Kung Fu Panda Holiday. Enjoy!
Tigress felt like she was a child again.
The whole dining area of Mr Ping's noodle restaurant was illuminated by the light of a rainbow of paper lanterns that hung overhead with colourful bunting. A strong smell of spices and herbs filled in the air, mixing and merging with the laughs and cheers of its patrons. Tigress had never seen the restaurant so busy; there were swarms of rabbits and bunnies, piglets and pigs, geese and sheep alike. Every table and every chair was occupied, packing everyone tightly together. Their breaths and body heat mingled together, keeping the whole dining area warm despite the biting chill that lingered out in the night.
It was overwhelming. Tigress felt each of her senses pushed to their limits - the lanterns were so bright, the rumbling voices of the crowd were so loud, the smell of Mr Ping's winter special noodle soup filled her nostrils. Children pushed past, running laps around the dining area, practically screeching with excitement and joy. Not a single moment went by without a drink in her paw, and Tigress was not sure just how much sweet wine she had consumed in the past two hours; the taste had lingered on her tongue all evening.
It was pure chaos - and Tigress loved it.
She sat at the table closest to the kitchen, watching the children play with quiet delight. Her gaze drifted over to where Master Rhino was entertaining a group of bunnies with another dramatic tale. Eventually, she brought her gaze a little closer to where Monkey was laughing with a nearby sheep, a small drinking cup in three of his hands. Next to him, Shifu was in conversation with Mr Ping, nodding his head respectfully as the goose prattled on, waving his wings animatedly. Mantis lay in the centre of the table, huffing and puffing.
"Oh man," He groaned in between breaths. "I ate way too much."
Viper rattled her tongue disapprovingly. "I told you to have a child's portion-"
"Shut up, you!"
Tigress chuckled. Suddenly, another pair of eyes caught her gaze - a pair of jade green eyes that watched her just as closely as Tigress had watched the patrons of the restaurant.
"You okay, Tigress?" Po asked, his voice twinged with a playful tone. The panda was now sitting directly to her left and had ducked his head down slightly to meet her gaze.
Before Tigress could prevent herself, she let out a cheerful chuff.
Instinctively, her paw shot up to cover her mouth and nose but it was too late. Po blinked in surprise then spat out a laugh. "What was that?" He asked incredulously, jerking back to his full height. "Was - was that a burp?"
"Of course not!" Tigress replied sharply. Her cheeks threatened to burn with embarrassment. "It was…just a noise I make when I'm happy."
"So I take it you're enjoying yourself, huh?"
"I am," Tigress turned her eyes once again out to the crowds of patrons and children that still swarmed the dining area. She took a deep breath. "I really am."
She missed the lingering stare Po gave her and the way one of his brows arched itself at her response. "I didn't know that you're a big fan of the holidays?"
"Oh, I used to love the holidays." Tigress sighed happily. She turned back to Po and leaned in slightly so her voice would not be drowned out by the chorus of singing that had broken out on a near table. "When I was a cub, I used to sneak out of the Jade Palace to come and watch the festivities. I was too shy to ever join in, so I used to lurk up on the rooftops and just watch everyone else celebrate."
Po's eyes widened. "You? Sneaking out past curfew? No way!"
"I did! Master Oogway and Shifu were always busy with the Winter Feast but I was too young to be invited. So while they were attending the feast, I would sneak away." Tigress replied with a smirk.
"That's one heck of a rebellious streak you got there, Master Tigress."
"I would hardly call myself rebellious." Tigress shook her head. "But I remember…"
Her voice faltered and Tigress swallowed thickly. "You remember what?" Po encouraged gently.
"I remember how furious Master Shifu was when he found out."
"Seriously? Why?" Po asked curiously with a shrug of his shoulders. "I mean, what's so bad about you watching the town celebrate?"
Suddenly, Tigress's mouth ran dry. She averted her eyes and held her paws together in her lap. "I, um, I was not allowed to leave the Palace as a cub - not without Master Shifu, at least."
"How come?"
It was now Tigress's turn to shrug her shoulders. "Shifu must have never liked the thought of me walking around town on my own. I'm still not sure if it was because he thought I would get into trouble or if he thought I would cause trouble, but I was always told to stay within the grounds of the Palace. Of course, I did not always listen."
Po said nothing but kept his eyes trained on Tigress, not even noticing that the noise and chaos of the party seemed to fade away into the background. The tiger took a deep breath and continued on.
"Finally, after one Winter Feast when I was around ten," She spoke more softly, forcing Po to lean closer to hear her. "Oogway wanted to introduce me to some of the Masters of the Creed after dinner. At that time, I was their star pupil - but none of the staff could find me. They searched high and low, apparently. Even all the other Masters joined in on the search. Eventually, Shifu came down to the village and he found me. I had such a scolding that night - Shifu said I had embarrassed them all by disobeying his orders and I had wasted their time."
After this, Tigress cleared her throat awkwardly and brought the cup to her lips to drink noiselessly. The heat of the party was beginning to stifle her and make her eyes burn. Po pressed his lips tightly together and drummed his fingers on the table. "So…uh…" He gulped. "What…made you want to come down to the village in the first place? I mean - you could've spied on all those cool Kung Fu Masters instead! What was it about the festivities that made you want to break the rules and come down here?"
There was a pause, and Po's curiosity was only further piqued as he saw Tigress's anxieties literally melt away. Her tensed muscles relaxed and another smile grew on her lips. She even did something Po had never seen her do before - close her eyes tightly for a brief few seconds before opening them again.
"At first, it was the music." Tigress answered with a sigh.
Po blinked. "The…music?"
"Yes," Tigress continued, her tone of voice lightening and turning breezy with each word. "Even all the way at the Jade Palace, we could hear the music playing from the village. My first winter holiday here, I sat at the top of the steps of the Palace and just listened. From far away, the village looked like it was on fire with all the lights and lanterns glowing. At first I was a little unsettled, but the music was just…enchanting. I sat there all night, listening, until Master Shifu found me there fast asleep."
"Did you get a scolding then too?"
In spite of herself, Tigress scoffed a laugh. "No - I technically had not left the palace. However, Master Shifu was not very impressed that I was sleeping outside in the middle of winter." Tigress replied with a shake of her head. "But the next year, I gathered up my courage and ventured down to the village. I never went any further than the first few houses, but what I got a glimpse of…was just magical."
"What did you see?"
Tigress turned her head with a euphoric gleam in her eye. Po stared back, searching. Tigress opened her mouth and flashed her sharp teeth with a grin. "Dancing."
Another pause fell. Both the tiger and panda seemed oblivious to the ruckus and party frenzy that surrounded them. Despite another round of wine being passed around and a few drunk pigs tumbling from their chairs with a clatter - the two ignored everything else and continued their conversation, enraptured.
"Dancing?" Po's face contorted with surprise.
"Yes, dancing. A troop from the musicians' village had settled in the square with their instruments and they played all night long. Everyone was dancing around them - and I could not take my eyes away from them. Don't you like dancing, panda?"
"Well, yeah, sure - it's my favourite part of the holidays too! But I can't lie, Tigress, I never had you down as a 'dancing' person."
"Oh, I never joined in! I would never - but watching from afar was enough for me." Tigress interrupted, giving a stern shake of her head. "But I-"
Tigress never got to finish her sentence. At that moment, a rousing drum beat echoed down the main street of the village.
Drum! Drum!
All the patrons of the restaurant stopped mid conversation and for the first time that night, a short silence fell during the gathering.
Drum! Drum!
Tigress's heart stopped beating. A chill ran up her spine. Was it - bandits?
Drum! Drum! Drum!
Tigress tensed her legs, ready to leap from her chair straight up to the roof to get a better view of her potential enemy, when the dining area suddenly came alive with movement. The silence that had fallen over the patrons broke as they all rose to their feet and began to move the tables towards the walls.
"What's going -" Tigress began, but she quickly realised the answer. A large open space started to form in the middle of the dining area. The beat was getting closer. It was suddenly joined by another noise - the sound of two horns laying a joyful melody.
Tigress was quickly ushered to her feet by Po, who moved their seats back and pushed the table up against the wall. She stood, frozen in place, her heartbeat quickly rising. It began to beat in her chest as quickly as the drum march that was slowly approaching the restaurant. At first, the music was nearly drowned out by the clattering of china as everyone began to return their empty dishes to the kitchen, but it fought back.
"Here they come!" Someone shouted as they darted through the circular doorway of the restaurant.
The music got louder and louder, swelling as more instruments joined in - and Tigress felt all her muscles tighten in anticipation.
Suddenly, a goose with a mandolin appeared in the doorway.
He was quickly followed by a rabbit with a small set of bells, and then by a large pig with a drum. Within seconds, there was a musician troop at the circular doorway of Mr Ping's restaurant, all dressed in their finest clothing, playing a fast rhythm from their various instruments.
One by one, patrons began to line up and started dancing in the open space of the dining area, whooping with joy and laughing as they moved themselves along. Bunnies, sheep, geese - even Po and Monkey joined in, hopping from foot to foot in time with the beat. Mantis and Crane cheered from the sides and bobbed their heads along to the melody.
Tigress stared, completely enraptured.
After a few minutes, props were quickly being passed around and incorporated into the dancing. Tigress even spotted two geese twirling batons around with their wings so quickly that the batons were nothing more than a blur. The drummer began a fast solo and the batten-twirlers took centre stage. Tigress watched with wide eyes as the two geese danced with expert timing seemingly off the cuff and even gasped in surprise when they swapped batons mid-air.
Suddenly, the melody changed again and now, many of the women took to the floor and began waving their arms in tall arched movements. Some waved long pieces of coloured handkerchiefs through the air, others held wide open paper fans. The colours moved like a rainbow river through the dining area, swaying before Tigress's eyes.
Eventually, Viper somehow got her coils around a ribbon stick and took to the dance floor. She darted masterfully underneath the crowd's feet and appeared in the centre of the dance floor in a flurry of scarlet ribbon.
"Yeah, go Viper!" Po cheered as Viper began a solo performance, twirling with so much elegance and precision that she never missed a beat. The dancers stepped back to allow her more room as the music began to slow down. Viper - ever the professional - moved to match the music's pace even as it changed.
Tigress watched from afar with her back nearly pressed against the wall of the restaurant. She clapped her paws and tapped her foot to the beat. A grin was plastered to her face as she watched Viper wrap up her performance with a bow.
Cheers and whistles erupted around her and just like that - the music quickly switched again. Viper was quickly encircled in a dancing circle of couples who spun around, hand in hand.
Po stepped forward to join in too but at the last second, he hesitated. The eager smile on his face faltered for half a second. His head turned sharply and his eyes caught sight of Tigress lurking towards the back of the restaurant, watching the dancing with glee reflecting in her glowing amber eyes.
But Tigress made no movement to join in with the dancing.
Feeling braver than ever - either by the influence of alcohol or holiday spirit - Po turned on his feet and pushed his way through the crowd towards her. Tigress saw him and her grin started to fade. She frowned and opened her mouth to question why he was not dancing but her words soon vanished from her tongue.
In one quick movement, Po grabbed her by the paws and began to step backwards.
"Po, I-" Tigress objected as the panda tugged her towards the dance floor. She held her ground. Her ears flattened against her head and her eyes grew wide. "I can't! I have never-"
"C'mon!" Po coaxed her confidently, staring at her straight in the eye. "If I can do Kung Fu, then you can definitely learn how to dance!"
Po's superior weight won out and Tigress found herself being dragged out onto the dance floor. The crowd parted and before Tigress knew it, she was being spun around in a circle, paw in paw with the Dragon Warrior.
She could barely hear the cheering over her own heartbeat. Po was leading her into all different directions and her feet were forced to keep moving. The light from the other head paper lanterns was dazzling. Faces blurred past her as she skipped around and around, pulled by Po's momentum, until the panda's face became the only constant in her vision.
Po gave her a beaming grin. "See!" He shouted over the loud music. "You're doing it! Woo!"
Tigress's breath caught in her chest. She looked down to see that her feet were moving on their own, finding the rhythm all by themselves. Feeling emboldened, Tigress gave her hips a little sway - and they moved in time with the change of notes from the mandolin. Tigress let out a shaky breath and felt her whole body relax. Her movements became more exaggerated, more fast paced and more in time with the music.
Tigress glanced back up at Po and grinned.
She was dancing!
"Yeah! Go Tigress!" The panda cheered loudly. In a bold move, Po let go of one paw and twirled her under his other arm. Tigress spun on the spot - and laughed with sheer delight.
Her laughter was joined by a light twinkling of bells, pitched so high that it cut through the rest of the music. The tune changed direction again but this time, Tigress's ears flexed with pleasure and her eyes lit up with recognition.
From behind his back, Po pulled out a paper fan between the two and held it at the base. Tigress mimicked his action, mimicked the dances she had seen performed year after year when she was a cub. She placed her paw over his and held on tightly. With their paws touching and both holding on to the other, they stretched their arms outwards. Their eyes met - and both gave the other a firm nod their head.
Their paws slightly twisted and the fan bloomed open between them like a bright purple flower. Tigress and Po began to spin in a large circle with their arms kept straight and their grip firmly on the other's paw.
"Yeah!" Po erupted with a victorious laugh. "Woo-hoo!"
They spun faster and faster - faster than any other pair of dancers in the dining area.
Tigress felt as though her heart was soaring. She closed her eyes tightly and let out a similar, care-free laugh. She tossed her head backwards and allowed a slight breeze to toy with her facial fur. Po grinned at the sight.
The pace of the music picked up, and so did Tigress's feet. Suddenly, Po was racing to catch up and his breathing became laboured - but Tigress did not slow down. She opened her eyes again and she looked wild.
Her pupils had grown twice their regular size and her black lips were curling back further and further, flashing her razor sharp teeth.
Po's grin nearly faltered as he almost missed a step and was forced to leap in order to keep up with Tigress. He felt something sharp press gently into the skin of his paw - her claws! Po leapt again and watched with wide eyes as Tigress's nose wrinkled and she chuffed with elation.
Suddenly, the speed and tension was too much and Po felt his feet lift from the floor - and they did not come back down.
"Ah!" He yelped. "Ti-Tigress!"
Suddenly, Tigress's grin faded and her ears flattened on her head. Her eyes focused and she saw Po gripping tightly to her paw, his legs swinging freely in the air behind him. Panic reflected in his eyes.
"Slow down!"
Tigress tried, but the momentum of her dancing kept her going and she threatened to fall off balance. She felt her body tilt in a direction she did not want to go in and was forced to let go of Po's paw.
Po sailed through the air, yelling as he went.
"Aaah!"
The dancers and patrons all gasped and watched him fly straight through the circular doorway of the restaurant with wide eyes and slack jaws. The music came to a screeching halt as the Dragon Warrior flew over the musician's heads.
Po hit the opposite house with a crunch. Luckily, he did not break through the wall and only caused no more than a few tiles to fall from the roof. The air was knocked straight from his lungs upon impact and then, he unceremoniously face-planted the floor, cracking the stone flooring with his skull.
Back in the dining area, Tigress stumbled to a stop. Her heart fell through to her stomach. "Po!" She cried out - and she was not alone. Another three voices joined her in her call, and even more followed her as she rushed out of the dining area and onto the street.
"Po! Po - I'm so sorry!" Tigress called as she approached the moaning panda. She stopped just short of where Po had fallen and grimaced as he scraped his face up from the floor to spat out a chunk of rock from his mouth.
Half a second later, Mr Ping shot past her to comfort his son. "Po! Are you alright, son?" Mr Ping questioned frantically, dusting the dirt and debris from Po's shoulders as he moaned miserably.
Tigress's face burned with shame. Her gaze dropped to her feet and stayed there, even as she heard Po begin to stir in the dirt.
"That was…" Po started weakly, but then - he gave out a breathless giggle. Tigress's eyes shot up and grew as large as dinner plates. Po was wiggling his hips and legs with glee. "That was so awesome! C'mon, let's go again!"
Before Tigress could blink, Po twisted his body and quickly jumped back onto his feet with a grin smeared onto his face. She could have sunk to her knees with sweet relief, but she was not given the chance - Po had already grabbed her by her paw and was leading her back to the dance floor.