Author's Note: Hey there! Long time no see! So, considering tomorrow is a special day for couples and lovers alike (cue me crying in a corner out of crippling loneliness) I thought why not have a valentine's day special one-shot. (Yes I am publishing this a day before, but I have like no time to upload anything tomorrow so today will have to do.) Now I do know that there is a proper valentine's day festival in China, but it is nowhere near as interesting to write about as the moon festival (not trying to be rude, just being honest). Funny thing about this one-shot though, I had intended for this to have some more... risqué elements earlier on but I decided against it. It's not often I do smaller moments so I thought why not start now.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN KFP (Dear God this is getting redundant now)
Enjoy.
A Moment in the Moonlight
An ocean of stars adorns the deep purple sky of the valley of peace, their twinkling splendour bringing a magical beauty to the night. This majesty is only topped by the luminescent glow of the moon, its subtle shine bathing every single building within the humble village, accompanying the lavishly decorated lanterns that hang on the house of every villager. The celestial body accepts these warm beacons of celebration in kind for it already knows just why these lanterns litter the valley's streets. Today is the day of the moon festival.
A time for joy, festivity, and love. For the chance to cherish life to its fullest or to stuff one's face full of delicious mooncakes. Of course, the people in the valley always choose to do both as can be seen by the massive number of citizens huddled inside Mr. Ping's restaurant. Somehow every year, the goose always manages to not only deliver great meal upon great meal, but to deliver exciting entertainment as well. Whether it be the furious five doing several kung fu performances to their awe-stricken fans or the presence of live music within the restaurant, the citizens of valley have always found this to be one of the most enjoyable times of the year.
None, however, enjoy this festival more than the couples dancing in the centre of the restaurant, hugging each other close as they give wordless declarations of love through their mirthful moves. For them this festival is not just a time for celebration, but a time for hope. Hope that their love can be just as powerful as the love held by the moon Goddess, Chang'e, and her loyal husband, Hou Yi. Each year couples and hopeless romantics alike pray for the chance to be in a relationship that bypasses immortality itself, that can be truly seen as everlasting. Yet none hopes for this blessing more than a certain couple currently residing at the jade palace, far away from the festivities in the village below.
At the very top of the thousand steps, just outside the doors to the hall of heroes, a tranquil tiger and excitable panda can be seen… dancing. Even though the musicians are so far away from them, their slow, captivating melody carries its way up the steps and graces their ears, albeit with a mere whisper. But this is enough for the two lovers, delighted that they can share this moment together. Po has his arms wrapped around Tigress' waist from behind, whilst she places her left paw on his arms and wraps her right arm around his head, bringing their cheeks closer together. Blissful smiles bless their faces as they take slow and measured steps in time to the faded music, their eyes closed as they relish the warmth of being so close to each other.
How can they not cherish this moment when there had been so many times where they could've lost the other forever? Even a mere three months ago, Tigress had almost lost Po to their most dangerous threat yet, Kai. Weeks after that experience, when they had finally returned home, the tiger master had realised just how much he had meant to her and the thought of him dying without ever knowing how she felt put a stake straight in her heart.
It may have taken many weeks to find the right time to tell him, to find the strength to put her heart on her sleeve. But when she finally did, it wasn't in her usual stoic or reserved guise. Instead, it was in a heartfelt whisper. Po's response? An equally heartfelt hug and a great, bright smile. He didn't need to say anything to her, for his adoration was written all over his face.
A blissful hum escapes Tigress' lips at that memory, recounting each and every single exhilarated kiss he gave to her at her admission. How could a warrior be so fierce and yet so sweet? The answer is simple. Its Po. Chuffs rumble in the tiger master's throat as she gently rubs her cheek on his, "I never thought I'd be dancing like this."
Her light whisper tickles Po's ear as he reciprocates his tiger's affectionate action, "I never really thought I could dance." This cheeky answer forces a meagre chuckle out of the tiger before the two lovers fall into a comfortable silence. Granted, the panda always has the urge fill in this silence with some curious question or an awkward attempt at a joke, but for once this urge seems to have completely vanished. Good, I'd probably ruin the moment. His grin widens at this thought, already imagining Tigress rolling her eyes at one of his stupid comments. Even when she is annoyed with him, he cannot deny her beauty.
Amber eyes open to take a glance at nature's spectacular lightshow painting the night sky, the tiger's breath being taken away by the brilliant shine of the moon and stars. "Such a beautiful night." She mutters to herself, her voice so quiet that Po can barely hear over the faded strings of the violins down below. Luckily, he just about manages to catch Tigress' comment and his urge to respond rears its head once again.
"It's not as beautiful as you." A tender tone takes his voice as he plants a sweet kiss on her cheek, not even bothering to look at the very sky his lover is praising. He already knows it doesn't hold a candle to her. Or would that be star? Cuz, I don't think moons can hold candles. Thank the Gods he didn't say that out loud.
Tigress gives Po an unamused look though her smile still remains on her face, "Now where have I heard that before?" Out of all of the responses he can give, of course he chooses the corniest one. Something that Viper would definitely recognise from one of her melodramatic romance stories.
Knowing of how overused his compliment is, Po finally opens his eyes to look directly at his tiger and gives a cheeky shrug, "Hey, if it works then it works." After saying this, he nuzzles his maw into the fur on her neck, resulting in another loving hum from the tiger master.
Silence once again takes hold of the two warriors, now focused on losing themselves within the valley's soothing music. Or at least, Tigress is. For Po he never really needed to put effort in relaxing, well, not until he visited the panda village that is. Whereas for Tigress, this simple dance, their shuffling of feet, just the feeling of her panda's arms wrapped around her brings her a sense of freedom that she, frankly, had never allowed herself to have. It feels good not having to wear her iron mask for once, to truly enjoy the moment and not care about what anyone thinks. Now if only she could-
A gentle peck on her neck snaps her mind out of this trail of thought, the panda's lips once again bringing their wholesome warmth to her already fiery heart. She feels another peck and another until she notices something about their frequency, as if it is gliding with the music in tandem. Tigress' smile widens in realisation of just what her panda is doing. He is kissing her to the melody of the noodle shop's faded song. "Po." She chuckles at his endearing mischief, wordlessly grateful that she has such a goofy yet lovable admirer. Her mirth soon spreads to Po, embarrassed at just how ridiculous his action was. Their snickers soon evolve into full blown laughter, both warriors struggling to get over Po's overtly geeky sweetness.
After almost a minute of laughing to their hearts content, the warrior couple finally calm themselves down, allowing Tigress to turn herself around in Po's embrace. Amber and jade eyes brighten as they gaze at each other, the moon smiling upon the lovers now getting lost in the other's joyful stare. Unfortunately, as she continues to look at her adoring panda, Tigress' train of thought returns, causing her smile to fade. Po immediately notices this and tilts his head in concern, "Hey, what's up?"
At this careful inquiry, Tigress' amber orbs wilt and her ears flatten against her head, with shame welling up within her soul. To think that she has been so open to her panda, that she has finally let him see what has been lying behind her cold mask, but that is just it. She has only been open to him. He's the only one who even knows of her affection towards him, not even Shifu or either of Po's fathers know about their courtship. To say that she feels wrong about this secrecy is an understatement at best. "I'm sorry for making you stay up here, Po." A guilt-ridden timbre takes hold of her soft voice, its dissonance infecting the soothing music and transforming it into melodious pity.
"What?" Surprise takes up Po's countenance until his eyes melt in understanding of just what she is saying, "C'mon, Tigress."
"I'm serious. It's unfair of me to keep you up here, especially now…" Tigress looks away, her shrinking in a foreign timidness. For the past two months she had requested that they keep their relationship hidden from the others. As for why, she just simply wasn't ready to open herself up to the others like that. Not to the extent that she has done for her loving panda. Surprisingly, Po has managed to adhere to her wishes, not slipping up even once. Guess his stealth mode really has improved. But as much as he has kept telling her that he's fine with this, the tiger master can always see the opposite in his eyes. Though it has always been miniscule, his desire to shout out and celebrate his kung fu girlfriend was clear for her to see. Even now she can pick out this desire amidst his concerned jade irises. He has been so kind, so caring for her and she still asks him to do more. It's just… wrong. "This is a time for celebrating with our family… not to hide away from them… I don't want you to miss out because of my…" she pauses for a brief second, considering her next words carefully, but no matter what way she tries to put it, only one word comes to mind. "… cowardice."
A sad smile crawls onto Po's face, knowing deep down that he didn't want anything more than to declare to the entire world how lucky he is to have the master Tigress as his girlfriend. But that can always wait, for his happiness can never come before hers. Besides, whenever she does smile at him, those weeks of waiting become far more worth it.
He tenderly cups her right cheek in his paw and moves her face to look into her amber eyes. A tiny flame glows in her guilt-ridden eyes, causing a pang of sorrow to hit Po's heart. However, he ignores this slight pain to give a disbelieving grin, "Coward? You?" Tigress' lips twitches upward as she feels her panda delicately caress her cheek with his thumb, "Now that's gotta be like… the most untrue thing in… well… ever. I mean, you're one of the most badass, awesome, beautiful, kindest and coolest kung fu warriors to ever kung fu."
Tigress chuckles in embarrassment, finding Po's gushing compliments to always send her heart fluttering. She buries her face into his chest fur, trying and failing to hide her flustered state as she quietly warns, "Po."
"I mean it." He assures his precious tiger, tightening his embrace slightly as he moves his paw to lovingly rub the fur on the back of her head. This immediately gets her chuffing, only flustering her further to the point where she nuzzles her head in his chest. An earnest chuckle escapes Po as he continues his assurance, "Look, I don't mind taking things slow… I know it ain't easy to figure out these kind of things… Heck, I'm still figuring out if I'm being a bit too much or whatever, y'know? And… to be honest, I am kinda scared that Shifu is gonna freak when he finds out." He feels her hot breath on his chest as she snickers, sending a wondrous chill up his spine.
Finally finding it within herself to pry her head away from his chest fur, Tigress smirks at the panda before wryly joking, "Perhaps he'll make both off us walk up and down the thousand steps for a week."
An involuntary shudder takes hold of Po just at the mere thought of those stairs, "Now that is a fate worse than death." At his grimaced comment, the warrior couple share another laugh until they once again captivate themselves in the other's adoring eyes. "M-my point is…" He fumbles over his words as his tiger flashes him a wide, almost angelic smile, bringing a warmth to his heart akin to the very sun itself. How could a warrior be so fierce and yet so sweet? Simple. It's Tigress. "I… I love you," Gods did it feel good to say that to her, "and I want to make you happy." He tightens his embrace once more as his heartfelt whisper blesses Tigress' ears, once again making her heart flutter.
No matter how many times he has said it, those words never fail to bring a pleasant fire into her soul. Not wanting this feeling to end, she quietly requests in a silky voice, "Say it again."
Confusion lines Po's features until he suggests, "I want to make you happy?"
"The first one."
At her confirmation, a playful smile finds its way onto Po's face, "Now that is a fate worse than death?" Tigress raises her eyebrows in response, knowing full well that he is just playing dumb with her. The dragon warrior cheerfully chortles at her reaction before giving her his signature goofy grin and whispering, "I love you."
Several chuffs escape Tigress as she nuzzles her forehead onto his, cherishing those three words that have so effortlessly unlocked her heart. Those three words that she had been waiting to hear for so long. She places her paws on his chest, lovingly kneading his fur as she moves her lips closer to his. "I love you more." A phantom kiss escapes her lips, sending Po's head into a lovestruck frenzy. But just before she can properly show him just how much he means to her, before she can show the side of her meant for him and him alone, the panda has to let out one last cheeky statement.
"Really? Show me."
A playful growl escape's Tigress' mouth as she locks lips with her affectionate panda. They close their eyes as they lose themselves in their kiss, their bodies lighting up in a fiery blaze of passion that cannot be extinguished. The moon's iridescent spotlight shines upon them, giving the two exhilarated lovers its blessing whilst they remain enraptured in each other. After what feels like a blissful eternity of making out, they separate for air. Two pairs of half-lidded eyes gaze at each other with tenderness before the warrior couple go in for another, gentler kiss. Several delighted hums and mewls are muffled by their locked lips, with Po delicately rubbing her back to elicit more content mewls from the tiger master. To his pleasure, she shamelessly moans into his mouth, happy that with him she can truly let herself go and enjoy his sweet, sweet love.
After a few more moments of their intense lip-locking, Po separates before painting her neck with kiss upon kiss. Tigress' tail swings about in joy as his affectionate act electrifies her body, making her sigh in absolute bliss. She places her paw on top of his head and keeps him there, her mind overwhelming itself in pleasure with each and every time his lips sweetly grace her neck. He kisses her neck several more times until he decides to nuzzle his maw into her neck fur, forcing the tiger master to giggle at the ticklish sensation.
Now done with his loving treatment, Po moves his head away from her neck and places his forehead on hers. At this, Tigress wraps her arms around his neck and chuffs in satisfaction. With their haze of passion finally clearing up, the faded music from the valley reaches their ears once again, inciting them to continue their pleasant dance from earlier. Without a single word they abide by the instruments' melodious message as they close their eyes and resume their peaceful dance. Just as they start taking their slow, gentle steps again, a question finds its way into Tigress' mind.
How could she be blessed with this lovable panda? Now that is something she doesn't have an answer for, nor does she ever want one. All she wants to do is take in this moment and cherish it for the rest of her life.
Ahhh, this is too sweet and mushy and lovey-dovey. This took a lot longer to write than I'd care to admit, especially compared to I Won't See You Tonight. Btw, consider this one-shot as a little "sorry for tearing your heart out and stomping on it" with that last one. Heh, heh. Anyways, I hope you've had fun with this, if it is incredibly sappy then great cuz that was the point. (though I did try to keep them in character still.) Happy Valentines day, and until next time ;)