Love is Truth

"What do you mean?" Fang Po asked.

"By what Tigress just saw. She was there too! If she figures out who you really are-"

"She would never forgive him," Leng finished Vince's statement. Fang Po's eyes grew wide. Viper was still confused.

"What do you mean?" Viper asked. The three looked at her.

"I think we can tell her. We're already in an emergency size mess," Vince said. Po nodded as he transformed back into panda Po. Needless to say, Viper was very shock.

"Po? That was you I fell on!" Viper said as her shock grew.

"Look, I'm sorry. It was completely a mistake. But I'll make it up to you," Po promised. Viper's head sank.

"How? Crane hates me. How are you going to fix that?" Viper asked.

"Don't worry. I will," Po said about to rush out. But Vince stopped him.

"Remember, don't let Tigress know," He reminded. With that Po rushed out the door. Once he was gone, Viper's face flinched.

"I fell on top of...Po?" Viper said failing to get her head around that. Vince and Leng just shook their heads.

Crane's face was practically lower than the ground as he climbed the stairs to the Peach Tree of Sacred knowledge. Po was there waiting for the bird. "Hey," He said nervously and anxiously, but Crane didn't notice.

"Hey," He muttered.

"You look like you just saw something that crushed your heart and made you question why you love that something in the first place," Po rattled out. This made Crane's head snap up.

"That was oddly specific and correct," He replied a little weirded out.

"I...guessed?" Po shrugged as Crane sat down next to him. "So what's bugging you?" Crane explained the situation that Po already knew. "So, you saw this guy kiss her?"

"Well...no," Crane replied.

"Did it look intentional?"

"No."

"Did it look like a complete accident and were you just caught up in the moment?"

"Well, now that you say it, it does sound much like a complete accident."

"Then why are you worried?!" Po exclaimed a little too loudly.

"I don't know. I shouldn't be worried about this. What should I do, Po?"

"Talk to the guy. Maybe he can help you?" Po replied readily.

"How?" Po shrugged. "You know what, you're right. I should talk to the guy, just to know where his heart is."

"That's what got us in trouble here in the first place," Po muttered to himself.

"Thanks Po," Crane said cheerfully, "You were more helpful than you usually are. Do you know where I can find him?"

"It's said that he comes out after dark. Try then," Po said. With that Crane rushed down the mountain. Po breathed out and said, "Okay, he's gone." Vince and Leng came up from the edge of the cliff where they were spying on the two.

"Okay, now for step three," Vince instructed.

Crane was absentmindedly roaming around the empty dark streets of the village. The sky was clear and the moonlight shone greatly. He looked up at it. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Crane spun around to see Fang Po right behind him. His angry stare made Fang Po think that this was a bad idea.

"Don't scare me like that," Crane finally said.

"Look, I'm sorry about last night. It was an honest accident," Fang Po defensively said. This made Crane's expression soften.

"You mean that you weren't on a date with her?" Crane asked.

"How did you conclude that, and no!" Fang Po exclaimed.

"Then why was she there?"

"Oh, two people told her to try and test where my heart was. They were trying to get her to test my love for...someone else," Fang Po finished slowly.

"You...love someone special in the valley?" Crane asked. Fang Po nodded nervously smiling. "Who?"

"That's not important. So is everything okay between me, you, and your girlfriend?" Fang Po asked.

"She's not my girlfriend," Crane sadly corrected.

"You should really work on that. Before you become jealous of somebody else," Fang Po said as Crane started to leave.

"I wasn't jealous," Crane shouted at him.

"That's what they always say when they're in love," Fang Po shouted back as Crane flew off. This made Crane think about what he said. Fang Po smiled as he saw the bird fly up the mountain. Then his smile disappeared as he heard something behind him. "What are you doing here?" Fang Po asked his unknown person.

"Whew! That went good," Leng said while the two were on top the mountain spying again.

"Well. It went well," Vince corrected. Leng rolled his eyes.

"Thank you Mr. Critical. The point is that Crane will apologized to Viper and they'll live hap-"

"Wait a moment, something's wrong. I see Tigress down there," Vince interrupted.

"What?"

"Oh, I...I just wanted to know where Crane was. I see you helped him with his problem," Tigress said stuttering a little. Fang Po sniffed the air.

"Are you wearing perfume?" Fang Po said in shock.

"Maybe," Tigress unsurely said, "Why? Is it too powerful?"

"No, I'm just surprised that you would wear some. I've heard that you're the most hardcore warrior around here," Fang Po said from more experience than knowledge. Tigress looked away sadly.

"Not everyone knows a lot about me," She muttered.

"I figured," Fang Po said making Tigress look at him, "You don't seem the person that people could read easily." Tigress offered a small smile. "So why are you here? Because I know it's not because of Crane," Fang Po smiled smugly.

"Uh...I have to go," Tigress chickened out and ran away quickly. Fang Po sighed.

"I'm starting to have fun with this."

"Okay, mission accomplished with Crane and Viper, but I don't like this 'cute, sweet guy by day and prince charming by night' thing you're doing with Tigress," Vince told off to the slim panda. Po scratched his spiky hair as he sat down to eat dumplings with his chopsticks.

"Well, I don't plan to do it for long," Po replied, "I mean, I just wanted to see how she would react." Just then, Viper came in and leaned straight onto the side of the doorpost, arms crossed, and had a serious expression on her face. "What happened?"

"Nothing between Crane and I. He apologized, but Leng told me about your encounter with Tigress last night. What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to see how she would act," Po expressed defensively. Viper's blue eyes rolled. Her green fighting dress moved around normally as she sat down on the corner next to Po.

"Po, need I remind you that this didn't work out for you with the Midnight Stranger," Viper replied. Po was silent for a moment. He had forgotten that. Viper quickly explained what happened to Vince. Vince messed around with the tip of his horn.

"Well, it's your life Po," Vince finally sighed. Po was silent for a while.

"Now that you say it, I don't even think that it's a good idea. Think about it. She was practically devastated when she learned that I was the Midnight Stranger. It would be the same with Fang Po," Po realized.

"Not only that, but we still have the incident with you and Viper to deal with. We don't even know if it will be a big issue. Plus,"

"She may just be attracted to my body," Po said sadly. Viper and Vince's face softened.

"I'm sure she likes you for something else than that. Tigress would never be only attracted to looks," Vince said.

"She fell in love with a shrimp one time, remember?" Viper reminded Po.

"Prawn. He was a prawn," Po corrected. Viper gave an exhausted sigh.

"The point is that she likes you. For what, we don't know yet," Viper replied. Po thought about it for a moment, then he stood up.

"I need to go out," Po said sadly as he exited. Viper and Vince looked grimly at each other until Song came in with her purplish blue vest. She noticed their sad expressions.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing, it's just that Po realized something about love that he didn't before," Viper said.

"What's that?" Song asked.

"It can hurt when truth is involved," Vince answered.

"Well that just makes it stronger, right?" Song asked. Vince gave a great sigh as he stood up.

"Let's hope so," Vince replied.

to be continued

Trivia

1. Why can't Po tell Tigress that he's Fang Po?

2. What did Crane thought Fang Po and Viper were doing?

3. What did Po just realize about Tigress's affection of Fang Po?

Answers to Chapter 9

1. To impress Tigress.

2. They fell on each other.

3. Opinion-based.