~~a/n; this came to my mind randomly- and I just had to write it down! I figured it'd be nie to look into Po's hectic new life at the Jade Palace so pfff- so here ya go! :D

ALSO! I HAVE A SURPRISE! I UPDATED MY TUMBLR PROMPT BOOK, AND THE REASON MOST OF YALL HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET IS BECAUSE... *blows trumpet* I POSTED THE SMUT AND CHANGED THE RATING TO M! WHOO! FINALLY!
for anyone who's interested in reading that, you can go to my tumblr book and look at the chapter labeled "Secret Winter Feast Present", so you can go see for yourself if you want! only if you want tho, no pressure- ; w ;
or if you had read it already, and wanted to ease your mind with fluff to help you cope with the unholiness you just saw, then you came to the right place!

okay, I'm gonna stop rambling now and let you read this wholesome book! remember to live, laugh, love, enjoy your day/night, and until next time... Yarart out! XP~~

warning: I don't own kung fu panda- sheesh how long do I have to keep saying this ;-;


It had been about a month since Po vanished Tai Lung to the Spirit Realm, and he, along with everyone in the valley, was just grateful to have things back to normal...

Well... almost normal...

Though the Valley of Peace is more peaceful than ever with the new kung fu warrior joining the already ferocious team of the Furious Five, it was made very clear that a lot has changed up at the Jade Palace.

For starters, there seemed to be a lot more... life. Before Po had arrived, it was the same routine for the masters; get up at dawn, train, train some more, perhaps go out on missions or out to fight some bandits in the valley, maybe an errand if they're lucky, get scolded by Shifu, train more, eat raw tofu for all 3 meals a day, sleep, repeat. Mind you, this was every day for the last decade. But the moment Po crashed into their life—quite literally—it seemed all their lives were filled with spontaneity and joy. His goofy fanboy mannerisms soon grew on the palace warriors and his unpredictability made every day with him feel like a new adventure. Even Master Shifu seemed happier as he was willing to give more breaks and actually bond with his students.

Though another thing that seemed weird about their new life was... Master Tigress' behvaior. Even though she seemed to accept Po as a fellow master, she was also acting a bit... off. It was obvious she seemed guilty to look Po in the eye after the things she said to him when he first came here, but she already profusely apologized to Po and he accepted her apology, but now it just seemed like she wasn't as guilty as she seemed... almost flustered? Not to mention there were times where she seemed a bit distracted at times and was more distanced but less cold towards the others which was odd, considering her usual stoic and composed facade..

No one really bothered to mention it though as everyone thought was maybe Tigress' social anxiety not being used to having Po around yet but it was in the back of everyone's mind.

And the final thing was the one and only Dragon Warrior himself; taking the responsibilities of his new title not too kindly...
Though he wasn't really used to the routine of his idols, he tries his best to live up to a master's expectations—and with this new life and still doing his best to help his father down at the valley and also volunteering with repairs, needless to say, Po's life was already very much busy.

He had to pose for hours on end whilst painters and sculpture's made images of him, he had to sign decrees to confirm his role as a master and deliver it to the Masters' Council, he had to cover a lot of vendor's repair charges and fix most of the damage he did, not to mention not going through a single day at his father's shop trying to waiter the customers without being asked for an autograph and/or a painting of him from a 'fan', and though Po did like being appreciated it just made life at his usually calming home a lot to deal with... especially with his father practically using this as a marketing plot.

Plus add that to training, trudging through the thousand steps daily, losing sleep to keep up with the Five in reading as much of the thousand scrolls as he could, and trying out his original fighting style on the field with bandits—you can pretty much guess that living the warrior life is fun and all, but not so easy.

Still, even with bags under the panda's eyes and the weight of China now on his shoulders as the new protector, he still kept that huge smile on his face, an upbeat attitude, and did his best to help out as much as he can, with throwing in a quick "I'm fine" or "I got this!" whenever the others asked to help.

One of the times they asked being now, "Wow Po, first signing your first decree as a master and now writing your battle with Tai Lung to put in the history scroll? That's amazing!" Viper so happily exclaimed as Po sat at the dining table, writing away with a feather pen and throwing back a weary smile.

"Thanks, Viper! I can't believe this is actually happening though! It seemed like just yesterday I was only a kung fu geek..." The panda sighed only for his bubble to be popped as Mantis hopped on the table with him, "'was'? Buddy, you were literally squealing like a little girl when she gets a lollipop when you were asked to sign your decree, and you were just squealing today when you were given this project!"

Po shrugged his shoulders with his usual shy grin, "What can I say? This is, like, a HUGE deal to me! D'you have any idea how long I've always wanted to be a kung fu master?"

"With all that fanboy merch you have of us in your room? I can take a guess...," Monkey piped up as the whole room chuckled.

"I remember when we all signed our decrees and each wrote our first story into the history books," Crane reminisced out loud, "Remember how we all met and fought Boar? I honestly don't know how our younger selves would react if they all met us as official kung fu masters."

"It's kind of crazy to think about it, honestly, right Tigress?" Viper looked at her sister, only to see her look absently at the table, "Tigress?"

The feline master perked up and looked at Viper's face, as if she instantly snapped out of her trance, "Oh! uh... yes, it is indeed..." She mumbled before clearing her throat, "So, Dragon Warrior, we all know from personal experience that righting your first-ever victory for the history scrolls can be a bit... nervewracking... as it is a great responsibility... so, you know, if you ever um... need any help... you could always come to us to ask."

Po had to smile; seeing the usually confident and collected, ferocious master fumble over her words to show her care was oddly... cute. But despite this, he had to pull the reply he always gave when he was offered help, "Thanks, Master Tigress, but I'm fine! Don't worry about me!" He winked, making Tigress slightly blush and look away with a frustrated expression.

"I-I'm not worried, panda..." She muttered, making Po fondly roll his eyes. "Still, this is a big opportunity for you, are you sure you could handle something like this?"

Po scoffed, "Pssh, please, how hard could it be?"

Tigress gave the bear a firm look, mainly focusing on his ruffled tired-some fur and the huge bags that hang below his eyes, before sighing to herself; she knew full well he was exhausted, but this panda really wasn't gonna listen to anyone.

"Now, who wants me to make some dinner for us tonight?" He asked as he got up from his chair and headed to the counter, hyping up his friends as they cheered for Po's mastery of culinary arts.

"Can we get some of that secret ingredient soup!" Mantis hopped excitedly in one place, whilst Po turned back to the bug and raised an amused eyebrow, "Again?"

"That stuff is to die for, man!" Mantis sobbed happily. Po thought about it by tapping his chin and pouting in thought, admittedly pulling a small smile of fondness on Tigress' face.

"You know, my dad did finally tell me the secret ingredient, it'd be nice to try it out! Why not!" He exclaimed before getting out the spices and vegetables and getting to work.


Watching Po cook masterfully and the warriors eating their dinner was a bit of a blur, they all didn't know if it was the entertainment they gave each other or the 'secret ingredient' messing with them, but before they all knew it, time passed by quickly as it was time to go to sleep.

The Five got up and head to the door whilst bidding each other goodnight, before Tigress held back as she noticed a certain someone not following them, "Dragon Warrior, aren't you coming?" SHe asked professionally as everyone left.

Po dried the last washed plate and stocked it aside before heading back to the table to continue writing, "I think I'm just gonna write for a bit longer and finish as much as I can tonight. I don't wanna waste any more time—the diplomat's coming in only 3 days!"

Tigress crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame, giving Po a dark look, "I think there would still be time for you to write in those 3 days if you just went to bed."

The panda didn't even look up from his paper, "I'd rather just do it now. Don't worry, I got this!"

"You're going to over-exert yourself."

"Master Tigress," He said grimly. He finally stopped what he was doing and looked up at the feline, "With all due respect, why do you care?"

Tigress froze when he asked that. She felt heat crawl to her cheeks before quickly shaking it away, "I..." She paused to take a moment to collect herself and sighed, "I care because I get it."

...Well, that wasn't what he was expecting to hear.

"I get it; not wanting to ask for help, overworking yourself. You want to prove yourself as you're given something you've always wanted, you want to prove you're worthy of it. And it doesn't really help that the lives of almost everyone around rest on your shoulders now, does it?"

Po sat there agape, his jaw slightly hung in awe, not really sure how to respond, "I... how did you—"

"I know I'm not the best at... people... and I know that what you and I have right now is a bit odd still," Tigress felt herself blush again, thankful that her fur was able to cover it up, "But I do kind of... understand you. I understand you a lot more than you think... just... don't make the same mistakes that I did—...that I still do, okay?"

Po simply nodded, his white cheeks burning a bright red. "Good... well... goodnight then, Po." And with that, she shot him a brief smile and ominously left.

And it didn't help that that was the first time she called him by his actual name either.

Po tore his gaze away from the empty place she once stood and ran his hands through his steaming face, "It's just a fanboy crush, it's just a fanboy crush, it's just a fanboy crush..." He kept muttering to himself before shaking himself awake and still continuing to write.


That night Tigress couldn't sleep. So much for 'writing for a bit longer.'

She watched as the shadows the moon cast drifted ever so slowly by the minute, and soon by the hour. She checked the placement of the moon and assumed it was around 2 in the morning... she should've heard those darn creaky heavy footsteps she's come to be familiar with.

'Where is he?'

That was all she could think as she tossed and turned in bed, trying to think of anything else.

She shouldn't care this much about a panda—let alone someone she used to loathe. So why was this eating her up? Why did she feel the need to go check on him? To go see if he was alright? Was she going insane? She would never stress about this if it was one of the Furious Five; what made this one dumb panda so different?

Try as she might, no matter how much her mind was screaming at her to sleep and forget about the panda, he just couldn't leave her mind. So with a grunt, she finally snapped her head up from her bed with a deadpan expression.

"Dang it."

She growled to herself as she lit up a small lantern and tiptoed through the halls. Thanks to her stealth mode, she was able to drift past her teammates with ease.

When she was close to the kitchen she was sure the panda was still in, her ears picked up a sudden but familiar noise; snoring. Glancing inside through the open door frame, she found herself staring at a peculiar sight.

Po was sitting at the dining table with his head planted against the wood with his arms supporting him, his face drifted off to the side with his mouth slightly open and his eyes softly closed. He slightly shivered with every breath he took from the cool breeze blowing through his fur. Tigress shook her head. She knew he would fall asleep staying up this late.

Quickly leaving the kitchen and going to the storage closet, she soon came back with a blanket in her arms.

She placed the lantern next to Po, illuminating her robust figure, and gently throwing the blanket over his shoulders and back and tucking him in to protect him from the cold. She looked down at him and smiled to herself in pride. 'He's gonna owe me for that soon...' She thought devilishly in her head before pausing herself to take in his whole figure.

He looked so... peaceful. This was actually the first time in a while that she's seen Po actually relaxed. The poor guy burnt himself out. She hesitated but soon found her hand out and on his head, her fingers running through his fur sweetly, almost like she was petting him. She retracted her hand when she saw Po stir, but only saw that he was just trying to shuffle to feel more of her touch and was soon smiling to himself from the contact.

Blushingly grinning at his admittedly cute reaction and continued to pet his head, before realizing what she was actually doing and pulling her hand back yet again. She stiffened up in embarrassment from his slight whimpering at the lost feeling and quickly took the lantern, leaving with a burning flare on her face that not even her fur could cover.

'That panda is going to be the death of me..' Was all she thought as she stealthily slipped into bed.

~THE END~