Nung-Ha

The next day, Krystal woke me up early to tell me what happened between Tigress and her. I wrote it down. Krystal was going to the Jade Palace where she found Po doing Kung Fu moves with the broom. It wasn't until Po hit himself with the broom that Po found he was being watched because of Krystal's laugh. "Oh, Krystal," He said. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for Tigress," She explained, and Po pointed the way to her location. She found Tigress in her room at the barracks with a sad face. "What's wrong?" Tigress instantly tried to buck up and change her look as to not attract attention. Too late.

"There's nothing wrong," She said emotionlessly. Krystal looked at her with disbelief. "I'm serious. Nothing's wrong," She reiterated.

"I know you're lying. I don't need Lion's powers to know that. What's up," Krystal came again as she rested on the floor. Tigress was silent for the moment. "Is it about Po?"

"Kind of," She practically whispered. "But not in the way you think." She paused shortly. "Song said that she wanted us to be the godparents."

"Yeah, Lion told me. Good to know that you'll have a little child around, right?"

"Well, it's not the child I'm...agitated about. She said she wanted us to be the godparents. If I know anything about social cues, that means that she expected for us to be... together."

"Or she might just want a firm grip and a tender hand for godparents," Krystal said. She knew that she couldn't be extra joyous that Tigress was upset about this. It showed that Tigress was thinking about her relationship with Po, but Krystal had to be careful not to be excitable. Tigress shook her head.

"I doubt it," Tigress explained.

"Why are you worried about that," Krystal asked.

"Because," Tigress struggled to say. "I... Lion asked one time what my relationship with Po was...and then he said that I didn't know much about Po. And that's the problem. I don't know much about Po. I just learned that he was the same age as me and that he was a thief at one time. What else do I not know about Po? I thought Po and I were close, but this whole thing with Song has led me to rethink how close we are."

"I thought you didn't want to worry about how close you were to others," Krystal said.

"Why are you and Lion the same," Tigress said, raising her voice a bit. "I DO care about Po."

"I didn't say you didn't."

"Yes, you did. You just said it differently than Lion did. I do care about Po!" Krystal was silent. She could see Tigress was a little angry still.

"And the others," Krystal asked. Tigress sighed.

"Yes, but... especially Po," Tigress replied.

"Tigress, you're always going on about how relationships aren't needed. Why would you think that we would think you cared about relationships, much less Po?"

"I guess Lion was right. What I present, people will think."

"So how close to Po do you think you are," Krystal asked. Tigress thought about it.

"I don't know. Friends, but I don't think we know each other like friends. I didn't even tell Po about the...incident. You think I should tell him?"

"I don't think so. You two have to get closer in order to do so. That is... if you want to," Krystal said. Tigress looked confused. "I always thought that you... didn't necessarily care for Po, I mean in the sense of a very close friend."

"I...Because of what happened, I don't let people in much," Tigress struggled. "He's a good friend but-"

"You don't know him much," Krystal guessed. Tigress looked ashamed with her ears stooping down. Krystal laid her hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Just be patient and you'll learn more about him," Krystal assured. Then their conversation ended as Krystal left Tigress to her sleep.

"Wow," I said as I realized what I wrote. "I didn't think that it plague her mind so. Thanks for telling me it." Krystal kissed me on the head. "You know, I really like your kisses," I said with a corny smile. Krystal grabbed my lion nose and shook it around a bit.

"Flirt," Krystal smirked. "I'm going to Ru's house with Tigress. Maybe I can get them together," She smiled.

"Good luck," I called out as she went out the door. After my breakfast, I decided to actually go to the Training Hall where I would see Master Shifu with Crane and Lu. "Well, what are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing much," Lu said. "We were just talking about your friend Demi." I didn't get angry as I usually do. I just rolled my eyes and sighed. "There are some questions we have."

"Okay, like what?"

"What is Demi's purpose," Crane asked.

"Demi... well, let's start from the beginning. Demi's real name is Dimension Ripper. He's a magical being that is able to open different portals to different dimensions and parts of the universe," I explained.

"So why did he choose you," Lu asked.

"I have no idea," I sighed. "I was just a student going to some school. I wanted to be...actually, I still didn't know what I wanted to be."

"What do you like doing," Lu asked.

"Goofing around, writing, eating, and helping people," I said.

"Why don't you become a doctor or a self-esteem writer," Master Shifu suggested.

"You know, everyone wanted me to do that. But I hate blood," I laughed. They all laughed.

"So Demi has dragged you into this for what," Crane asked.

"It was to see if my... theories on... strengthening Tigress and Po would work."

"And are they," Master Shifu asked. I shrugged.

"It all depends on what theories he decides to make come to light," I replied. We continued talking for a while before Krystal came in with the most scared timid look I've seen. She came to me as Po came running behind.

"Krystal wait! I can explain," Po said. Krystal ran right behind me, almost using me as a shield against Po.

"What's wrong," Master Shifu asked.

"Nothing, it's a misunderstanding," Po said as Tigress came in also.

"How could what the person said, be a misunderstanding," Krystal cried out. Po looked ashamed.

"It isn't what it seems like, Krystal," Po tried to reach her, but she retracted behind me. I stopped Po.

"What happened," I asked.

"I...I can't tell you," Po said, brushing Tigress aside and walking out the door. I looked at Tigress.

"Can you please explain to me why Krystal is afraid of this lovable panda," I asked.

"We were going into the village when some bandits were attacking this traveling duck. Once we defeated them, the duck was thankful, especially of Po until he seemed to recognize Po. He was afraid, but the weird thing is he called him-"

"Nung-Ha," Krystal whispered. My heart sank to the floor. I couldn't be mad at Po, it wasn't his fault. I could see Tigress and the others were confused.

"When Krystal heard that, she ran away from Po. Who's Nung-Ha and why is he associated with Po," Tigress asked. I could feel Krystal shaking behind me.

"For the life of me, I can not tell you. Not now. Come on, Krystal. Let's get you home," I said. I teleported her and me to our house. I tried to put her in her room, but she insisted that she stay my room. She rested on the bed while I wrote down what happened. When Krystal woke up, I could feel her glare on the back of my head. I turned around to see a death glare that could rival Tigress's.

"Why did you write Po like that," She asked. I sighed. Many have a misconception about marriage. That it's all about love and kisses or physical intercourse and that's it, and thank heaven it is some of that. But it is also struggle and strife. I could say that I wasn't guilty. That it was Demi's fault, but Demi got the idea from my ideas. Though it was indirect, I was responsible for Po's condition.

"It's my fault," I said sadly, "I didn't want any of this. I didn't think that he would actually have this hard life."

"But why would you write him like that anyways," Krystal repeated.

"I wanted to pay them back," I said in a quiet rage. "From what I could see, I knew that Po must have been teased and picked on because of his appearance and his weight and character. I wanted to pay them back. To show that every action, every word has a result or consequence. I felt sorry for Po being treated that way. And I knew, from many instances, that people can only take so much. And I hypothesized that Po's would be the worst because he was the most caring, loving, patient person." I began to calm down. "But after reading what I wrote, I knew that it would be horrible to have someone this way. Someone, who is picked on so much that when he snaps, a whole village is affected. Children become depressed and sad. Women get rejected continuously. Bandits are nearly killed or to the point of death. A psychological gloom cloud hovered over the people. He didn't sleep or eat and was merciless. That scared me. But I didn't think it would ever come alive." It was silent for a moment. Then Krystal put her hand on my shoulder. I looked at her and she was smiling again.

"It was your fault to some extent. But ultimately, it's the village's fault for picking on Po," She assured me. I sighed. "But you have to tell Po about it."

"How," I asked.

"Simple. You teleport to where he is, say 'hi', and apologize," She smirked. I sighed. She was right. With that, I teleported to the Heavenly Peach Sapling. I had to be careful not to step on it; it is really tiny. Po was sitting on the cliff with his feet dangling in the air.

"Hey," I said. Po sadly looked at me and just turned back to looking at the abyss.

"I'm guessing you're here to say that I lied to you? To be honest, I didn't think that's what you meant. Sorry for lying," Po said. I sat next to him.

"It's me who should be asking your forgiveness," I said.

"Why," Po replied not looking at me. I struggled to speak.

"I... use to write about you guys back in my homeworld. I use to write stories. I wrote this one story about Nung-Ha."

"So?"

"Demi... told me when he cast me here that my stories would come alive. Basically, if I hadn't written the story, you couldn't have been Nung-Ha," I explained. I looked at him and he stared at me with a shocked face that slowly grew into anger.

"So... you're saying that you are responsible for my life being a complete disaster. You're responsible for me snapping and making everyone's life in the village the worst thing they've ever experienced!" he exclaimed. "And you didn't think that Demi would bring that to reality!?"

"I'm sorry, Po. I didn't mean to make your life hard. I just-"

"You just what?"

"I just thought that being who you were that you would have a lot of people picking on you. I felt that you would snap and that result would punish the people who offended you," I sighed. Po turned his face away from me. It was a long time before I heard him sigh.

"It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not. You just gave a name to it. Even if you hadn't written it, I would have still had a hard life. I don't know if I would've snapped or not but... it's ultimately my fault for snapping. I should have just told my dad or someone before I snapped. You just gave a name to it," Po said. I looked at him with his bright usual smile. You would be surprised how easily that smile can be missed. "So what does Nung-Ha mean?"

"Hehe, funny story... um... I wanted the name to mean 'deadly tiger' in Chinese," I said. Deadly tiger in Chinese is "Zhìmìng de lǎohǔ", but you can see for yourself why I didn't choose that. Nung-ha is actually Vietnamese (as detected by Google translate). Po shrugged.

"So what now? Should I tell the others," Po asked.

"I don't know. I think you shouldn't, but they will ask and probably get the story from somewhere else. What I'm worried about is Tigress," I said. Po's head snapped up at that. "She's the one that cares most about you."

"Really! I mean, really? I mean rally. I mean-"

"I think I know what you mean," I laughed. "I'm just saying something like this might make her feel guilty about how she treated you when you two first met."

"You're right. But what about when someone tells them."

"For the most part, that traveling duck, who I know is gone since he saw you, is the only one that knows about Nung-Ha. So there's you, me, Krystal, and I think your father. Most people who know about Nung-Ha, I think, have died or have moved away. Plus, it's really a bad memory. Not many people are willing to tell it."

"So I just tell the others that I don't want to tell them? It's a bit shady don't you think."

"You can tell them when you want," I said. "I'm just making suggestions. I am sorry Po."

"It's alright. I forgive you," Po smiled. I wrote all these things in the journal.

to be continued.