Po adores these stories. He listens with rapt attention to every word, shoving food into his mouth as quietly as possible so as not to miss anything that is said. His big, green eyes dart between each speaker, committing their facial expressions and bodily language to his impressive memory.

The friends are seated outside, enjoying festivities from a higher vantage point.

Someone has gotten married to someone else.

"Eventually, Viper and I were–"

"Wrapped up in each other," says Mantis, earning a snigger from Monkey.

"Don't be so lewd." Crane shakes his beak disapprovingly whilst turning down his hat, concealing the curve of his smile. "Please, continue your tale."

"Thank you. We couldn't separate in time." Tigress takes a moment to glance at her bandages, testing the shoulder beneath. It doesn't hurt. She's actually doing this to distract herself from any nervousness, as she doesn't often contribute to these recollections, preferring to keep most of her history to the second-hand accounts of others. For a change, she thought she'd try speaking more. It's possibly because of the wine. "We were still so new to each other. We lost balance–"

"In front of Shifu," Viper interjects, leaning on a striped arm. "I got a look at him on our way down. He was not impressed."

"And we fell into the Jade Tortoise–"

"Of Wisdom!" Monkey throws a fist into the air, making a circular movement for effect. "But you looked so silly, rolling around!"

Manis bellows with laughter, joined by Monkey's melodramatic collapse and Crane's softer amusement.

Po is too enraptured to find this hilarious, fixated on Tigress as she turns to gaze warmly back at him, finishing the story for his benefit.

"Our Master had to hold the Tortoise steady until we managed to untangle ourselves."

"Because these guys were not helping."

"Yes, and years later, they remain as unhelpful."

"It's funny now, but we were mortified, then." Blue eyes flutter shut. "You were blushing, Tigress."

"Viper," the word is almost purred through a velvet smirk, "I was a teenager."

"Yeah, you used to be so cute, too. What happened?"

"Excuse me. I take offence to that."

Monkey slowly sits upright, again, wiping his eyes, Mantis clinging to his shoulder.

Crane relaxes, elegantly shifting his weight.

"Wow."

The friends give the Dragon Warrior a shared expression of interest, because he's using a tone of voice he usually uses when he is experiencing a revelation or epiphany of sorts.

"You guys are so awesome."

"What, that's it?"

"Well, uh…"

"We're not even kicking tail."

"Okay, sure, but whatever! You're awesome at everything you do. I still can't get used to it. This is… real. I'm not dreaming it. We're hanging out!"

"Aw. That's so sweet, Po."

"Guys, sorry for the mush, but still. I mean, there's more I could say, but… I don't wanna embarrass you. So be glad with 'awesome' and 'totally not a dream' for now."

"Duly noted."

"Good thinking." Mantis waves Po aside. "Too much flattery and one of us might drop his hat."

"Yeah." Monkey winks up at Crane. "Like the time that pretty lady friend of yours said she liked your Kung Fu."

The hat wobbles precariously, then is stilled by quick talons.

"She travelled all this way, alone, because she heard about your success, here." Viper coils around Tigress' arm without thinking. "So romantic!"

"What was her name, again?"

"Mei Ling," Crane murmurs, trying to merge into his hat as it threatens to fly off of his head due to mysterious forces.

"Maybe it's the heat," Tigress says quietly, intending to tease, giving the impression that she actually can read minds. "I can feel you burning up."

"Nice one!"

"Would you like some water? It might help you cool your head."

"Ooh! Go for a third!"

"Sorry, I'm all out."

Po sets his empty bowl down, feeling full, although he could easily eat more. It's this companionship. It's this life.

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"Got a story to share?" asks Mantis, Monkey nodding encouragingly beside him.

Crane is grateful not to be the target of any more affectionate jests, lifting his hat enough to peer intelligently at the panda.

"Nothing… awesome. Heh."

"I don't believe you, Dragon Warrior."

"Bah." Po tries not to shudder beside Tigress. "You know everything there is to know about little ol' me."

"I dunno. There's something pudgily mysterious about you."

"Are you feeling shy?"

"Me, shy? Please."

Viper reaches past Tigress, tenderly prodding Po.

"Guys, my life was super dull before I met you. You know that."

"Your father is an interesting man," Tigress offers politely. "And I've always been curious about your woodworking skills."

"You… like my action figures?"

"Don't tell anyone, but I think they're – what's the word?"

"Cool?"

"Yes." She smirks at him. "Cool."

His heart really might leap out of his chest.

"Tigress, you do realise we all just heard you say that."

"And you shall not repeat what you heard. Understood, Crane?"

"Yes," he says in a small voice, his elegant throat shifting with a gulp. "Po, uh… Why don't you tell us about the intricacies of running a restaurant?"

"Yeah. How did you give Shifu food poisoning, anyway?" asks Mantis, receiving a glare from Monkey. "What?"

"I… sneezed into his order. I was sick, okay? It was a rough day. And I felt super bad about it."

"Our Master's illness was unfortunate." Tigress places her paw on Po's back, where the wound has mostly healed. "But look at all the good that has come of it."

The remaining Five all nod in agreement, smiling their differing smiles.

The pressure of her calloused palm on his bruised flesh doesn't hurt. Instead, he lifts his chin, reassured, and says in a brave voice, "You want a story?"

"Yeah, man, we've been waiting."

"I did throw a radish at a rowdy customer, once."

"What did the guy do?"

"He was rude and just, like, generally unpleasant to everyone, you know? But then he started hitting on a rabbit, making her feel super uncomfortable. Guy was a pig to my dad, too. No offence to pigs. He wasn't actually a pig. He was a boar. So… kind of a pig, but… that sounds really ignorant of me to say…?"

"Didn't your father tell him to leave?"

"Sure, but the guy said he was a paying customer and had a right to finish his meal. And that was kinda true. I offered to make it a takeaway and he said… Well, he said no. But less politely."

"I would have broken his arm."

"Tigress, violence is not always the answer."

"My fists don't negotiate, Viper."

"What'd you do then, Po?"

"I threw a radish at his head."

"Where'd you get him?"

"Right on the nose. Skadoosh."

"Awesome."

"He said, 'Aargh! My nose!'" Po mimics grabbing at his muzzle, swaying, as if about to careen, voice nasally. "And he tripped over a chair and fell backwards, like, 'Whoa! I've tripped and I'm falling backwards! Help! Noooo! Life, flashing before my eyes!' And then blam!"

Tigress keeps her paw on Po's back, hefting him upright with ease.

"Did you send him away, squealing?"

Mantis inclines his head at Viper's intensity. "So much for pacifism."

"Nah. He got real quiet, picked himself up, and sat down where he wouldn't bother anyone. He looked…"

"Humbled," says Tigress.

"And I felt so bad, afterward. You ever been hit by a radish?"

"No."

"Can't say I have."

"Not that I recall."

"It hurts, guys."

"Radishes are quite dangerous projectiles, assuming one applies enough velocity. Could shatter small bones." Crane realises that this isn't helpful when Monkey lightly slaps his feathered breast. "B-but boar snouts are quite flexible, so, um… the force probably would've rebounded and done less dama–"

"Shush."

"Sorry."

"I didn't regret standing up for my dad, or for her, or for any of the other smaller folk who wouldn't be taken seriously if they tried." Po frowns thoughtfully into the distance. "But I was a big lad. Maybe the radish wasn't necessary, if I'd just gotten out from behind the counter and faced him head-on like my dad. Maybe, if I had been brave enough, I could've used words instead of, y'know, a radish."

"A radish isn't so bad."

The panda redirects his thoughtful stare at his friends.

"I've had way worse stuff thrown at my head." Mantis points accusingly at Tigress. "Ask her."

"I apologised," she answers mildly. "Let it go."

"Never."

"If you guys had been there, instead of me…" Green eyes wander over their faces. "What would you have done?"

"I'd have thrown him out, literally," replies Mantis, huffing. "Guy was a creep. Who cares? I've faced hundreds of bullies and thugs just like him."

"I'd have pulled down his pants," answers Monkey, "and he'd have tripped over a banana, not a chair. Heh. Then I would've told a joke on the spot and gotten that whole place laughing."

"I would have told him firmly to behave or leave the premises." Crane tries to appear as masculine as he can.

Viper just hisses, which somehow communicates enough without communicating her intentions at all.

Po's eyes settle on Tigress, then.

She flexes her jaw, but her emotions are otherwise unreadable.

He treasures her answer above any other and she sometimes fears disappointing him.

Taking a quick breath, she answers calmly, "I'd have thrown at least a dozen radishes."

The corner of his lips quirks upward. "Really?"

"Then I'd reach for the cabbages." She flexes her arm, to Viper's delight. "I'd clear out the kitchen, probably, and end up fired. Then I'd run away and learn Kung Fu in isolation, surviving on the land, relying only on myself, growing stronger and faster. I'd develop my style of Kung Fu free of civilisation."

Mantis hums.

Monkey scratches his head.

Crane tips his hat a little further back.

Viper contemplates the muscular arm in her grip.

Po grins. "You'd live in a cave?"

"I'd have no home." Tigress is pleased that he likes her nonsense. "I'd wander, untethered. A myth. Or maybe a legend."

"And fight bad guys wherever you go?"

"Yes."

"And maybe you'd wear a cape and a hat like Crane's, but cooler?"

"There is no cooler hat than mine!"

"I think such a heroic ensemble would suit you better, Dragon Warrior, even if you aren't the lonely wandering kind."

"You didn't use my title sarcastically."

"Why would I do such a thing, Dragon Warrior?"

"And there you go, being sarcastic, again." Regardless, Po is awestruck not only by Tigress, but every one of his other friends, too. "Thanks, guys. I feel better about the radish."

"Except for Crane. He didn't help at all."

"Hey!"

"Ah, you guys." Po opens his arms, as if to embrace the world. "I love you!"

"We love you, too, Po."

"Eugh."

"Don't deny your feelings, Mantis."

"I don't have to say them out loud or get cuddly with people in order to feel my feelings, Viper."

"Of course, you're way too mucho to emote. A bit like Tigress."

"Leave me out of your squabbling. I'll win."

"I'm not too mucho for a hug," exclaims Monkey, clasping Mantis against his cheek, some odd embrace.

"Guh." One best friend reaches in turn for another. "Fine. But I'm gonna complain."

Crane extends one wing over Monkey, the other over Tigress, handsome beneath the shadow of his hat.

She remains comically stoic as Viper squeezes her arm tighter. "You're cutting off my circulation."

"Shh."

"This isn't very hard-core, but…"

Tigress' eyes widen when Po nestles into her side, resting his head against hers, her paw gliding over his back to unconsciously settle closer to his ribs. He's too round for her to feel the bones, but holding him is like embracing comfort.

"This is awesome."

For a while, nobody moves, nobody says anything.

"I could stay like this for hours," coos Viper, hardly breaking the silence and the stillness.

"Please, let's not do that," mutters Mantis. "You're drawing power from our bodily heat, aren't you? You reptile."

"Yesss. Essspecially Crane."

"Guys, quit it."

Monkey makes a happy sound, forgoing words.

Tigress turns her head slightly, touching Po's brow with her chin, where a bandit had punched him before she punched the bandit back, much harder.

"You smell nice," he whispers.

She accepts defeat with a low, throaty rumble.

"Are you purring?"

"No."

"Sounds like you're purring."

"I hear it, too."

"I'll put my fists in your ears."

"Too many ears, too few fists, Tigress."

"Don't get wise with me, Monkey. I'm ferocious."

"The world has never known greater ferocity."

"Thanks, Po."

I am not new to this fandom. I used to write for it back in the day (I'm kinda old) and I have positive memories. So, I'm back, I guess.

Perhaps I was vaguely inspired by Viper/Tigress fanart I remember seeing. Far as I know, links don't work, here. Said fanart isn't mine.

If you were wondering, I ship pretty much anyone/anyone, including f/f and m/m. Maybe that's your cup of green tea.

Why the update despite the 'complete' tag? Indecision. This fic may turn into a more expansive plot. I dunno. I have ideas regarding actually competent bandits. At least, I would like to try my hand at character development and relationship building for the heroes, in a more mature setting. But I have never specialised at plots. It's always about characters. Anyway, I wanted to write something that was trying to be cute, so hooray, this may have worked.

I very rarely use author's notes and I'm awkward, so you might not see another one of these and if you do, I hope I don't make you cringe too hard.

Thanks for reading. I'm going, now. Oh, and I hope you enjoyed.

Buh-bye.