Five whole minutes had now passed since Po last moved a muscle. Perhaps more; it wasn't like he'd been keeping track. No, he'd been much too lost in his thoughts, playing through the same words he'd dwelt on over and over...and over. For three days now. But this, was the first time he'd actually made it to the door of the one he wanted on the other side of that conversation.

So now he stood.

Frozen, wide-eyed, fist raised in the appropriate gesture. All he had left to do...was knock. Which, of course, wasn't happening. A typical brain reaction to the Dragon Warrior's attempts to act on both his least and most favorite emotional experience ever -

A crush.

It'd been a long, long time since Po had felt anything even similar to what he was feeling again now. He'd tried to push it out of his mind, oh how he'd tried. But of course, he'd always been, a hopeless romantic. And now it was back, in full force.

He held his breath. Still unmoving, undecided, unnerved. The universe, however, waited for no one, as usual. Monkey's door swung open.

Upon coming face to face with the frozen, wide-eyed panda, the ape blinked in surprise.

"...Po?" he inquired under a stifled, taken-aback giggle.

Po squeaked, "Hi."

An ever so awkwardly unexpected little exchange. Classic Po.

Monkey raised a brow and scanned the bear with both well-deserved confusion and curiosity before he continued. "Uh...hey."

The two stood in silence for a moment. Slowly, Po lowered his arm back down to his side. Monkey narrowed his eyes a bit, his look of confusion unfaltering, until finally, he softened into a humored half-grin.

"How long have you been standing here?" he asked, almost as if he could read his friend's mind.

Po choked, "Err, uhH, not long! I mean y'know, like...a...second...or two."

The lie was all too obvious, as always. Another Po classic. Monkey's grin widened.

"Ohhh," he nodded sarcastically, despite knowing full well that it would more than likely go right over Po's head. "A second or two! Of course."

And naturally, the panda released a soft sigh of relief at the response, his own face melting into a satisfied smile. No matter how nervous he could get at times, being face-to-face with his best friend never failed to inspire an unexplainable air of comfort. Though the stark inability to recognize rhetoric irony at its best probably also helped.

Monkey stifled a snort and shook his head with a sigh. "So, what can I do for you today, my friend?"

"Uhhhhh," Po blinked, stiffening up again as he remembered the real reason behind his visit. Or, the excuse, to be more accurate. Another moment of awkward silence passed before he did his very best to blurt the poorly planned words out. "Um. Well! Actually! I was kinda wondering if, uh, you could...well y'know, I-I'm...kinda bad at...yoga, and you're like a master, sooo...y'know! I just thought maybe you could uh...help...me?"

The bear grinned upon finishing the awkward proposal. Monkey, on the other hand, only stood speechless, the confused expression from a moment ago right back in place. He tilted his head a bit, raising both brows in disbelief before he carefully replied.

"You want more yoga practice?" he asked.

Hesitantly, Po nodded. "Yeah! ...I mean, y'know, if you can. You don't have to. I just, thought I'd ask!"

It was a foolproof plan, guaranteed to work! They could do yoga together all the time! Monkey loved yoga! And he was so good at it! It was the perfect way for Po to sneak in a ton of extra Monkey time without ever revealing his stupid crush! There was just...one small thing he'd totally forgotten to take into consideration.

"You hate yoga."

Guilty as charged.

Po blinked. Monkey knew him far too well. But at this point, even that wouldn't stop him from trying!

He laughed, "AhehH, what are you talkin' about? I don't hate yoga! ...Yoga's awesome! Since when have you known me to hate something awesome?"

The simian averted his gaze and opened his mouth to speak, but found no words. So of course, Po took the liberty of answering the question for him.

"Exactly! I don't hate awesome things." With a sly smile, he pointed a chubby finger toward his comrade. "Ever."

Despite the bold-faced "argument" going against everything Po had ever said about yoga, all the whining about having to be quiet, all the complaining about the slow pace of the practice itself...it was persuasive enough. That or Monkey just didn't care if it wasn't.

He shrugged. "Okay. If you wanna do yoga, let's do yoga."

"Yesss!" Po hissed with a celabratory fist pump.

Monkey only stifled a snicker at the panda's quirky and often puzzling mentality before knuckle-walking his way through the door frame and starting down the hall of the barracks. His excited teammate followed closely behind.

Whether it was sincere or not, Po's supposed newfound interest in the art of yoga had been taken quite seriously - which was made quite evident by the location his instructor had chosen for their first lesson. Either that, or...Monkey had just wanted to giggle at his teammate's ridiculous efforts to trek all the way out to the Pool of Sacred Tears. Which was also, quite likely.

"Come on, Panda! You got this!"

And of course, his teasing words of encouragement did little to solve that mystery.

Po heaved, "I...dunno...if I got...anything!" He stumbled for about the hundredth time so far on their decidedly arduous journey. "AhhHH!" And then he wheezed. "Wait! Just a second!"

Just another typical day in the life of the Dragon Warrior. In response, Monkey only giggled with childish glee and leapt on ahead, leading the way through their last few legs of travel.

Once they'd finally arrived, Po wasted no time in collapsing flat on his face with the heaviest sigh he could muster. The other master took a deep inhale instead, rolling his shoulders forward and back down as he slowly let the air out again. Monkey stood tall and proud; he beamed bright-eyed at the beautiful place of serenity around them before spinning back around to his fallen best friend.

He snickered, "Need a minute?"

"More like five," the bear breathed in a muffled voice. "Or...twenty five... Ahh! This grass feels nice."

With a knowing smile, Monkey shook his head. He hopped a step closer to take two yoga mats from Po's luggage, and proceeded to make his way over to the sacred pool. As he began to set up for their yoga session, his pudgy comrade gradually peeled himself up from his comfy, green grass bed.

The place was even more beautiful than Po remembered; he took a moment to admire the deep blue, partly cloudy sky, the gentle summer breeze, and the overall atmosphere of peace and harmony that now surrounded him. "Whoaaa."

He grinned and stood to his feet before hurrying over to Monkey, who was already sat on his tail for a moment of meditation.

"So uh," Po began with a soft giggle. "Why are we all the way out here for this? I mean, this place is awesome, but, y'know."

Monkey smiled at the words, but held his peace a moment longer. His teammate took the opportunity to set the rest of the luggage down and get settled on the second, nearby mat. After his next exhale, the ape then finally opened his eyes again. He met the sky's gaze almost forlornly before turning his attention back to Po, smile renewed.

He answered, "This is where Master Oogway first showed me how to conquer my darkest weaknesses, and revive myself through inner strength and focus."

"Darkest weaknesses!?" the panda's eyes widened in amazement. "Whoa... I didn't even know you had those!"

Monkey chuckled. "Weeeell, it's a pretty exclusive club. So don't tell anyone."

"O-Oh, don't worry! You're safe with me!" He paused after the words and averted his eyes, twiddling his chubby fingers a bit before he continued with a curious fascination. "Sooo...what kinda dark weaknesses did you have to overcome?"

The yogi's eyes were closed again at that point, though he peeked one open to glance at his friend's adorable intrigue. Then, he smiled and closed it again. With a sigh, he replied, "Story for another day, Panda. Today we practice yoga."

"Oh! Right, right, sorry."

Po quickly settled into a cross-legged position and straightened his posture to match Monkey's; though of course, he couldn't help his silent wishing that he too had a long, beautiful tail to balance on. So cool! he thought to himself as he tried not to grin. His feelings for the ape were only amplified by the shameless admiration he held for him as a legendary kung fu master.

Okay, relax, relax. Yoga. Inner strength and focus!

I can do this. I can... Ugh.

Kung fu training was without question the bear's greatest passion. He could do it all day and never grow tired beyond the obvious physical fatigue. Mental strength and focus, however, the art of patience, was not his forte. No matter how hard he tried, he never seemed to be able to calm his mind in the same way the other masters could.

Despite the fact that his intentions for practicing yoga with Monkey weren't actually the practice itself, there was no doubt that he needed it.

He took a deep breath in, following the pattern his instructor flowed with, and slowly let it out in the same fashion. He was lucky to even get past two of these before finding himself completely distracted yet again. So it was a good thing that Monkey was saving the deep meditation...for now.

"Okay," the ape began. "We'll start nice and easy." He gently rolled his shoulders a few times, keeping his breath steady and aligned with the motion. "Do you remember many of the postures Master Shifu taught you?"

Po followed along with his comrade's slow shoulder rolls. "Uh, yeah! Like, all of them!"

Monkey opened his eyes back up just to send a funny look the panda's way in response; skeptically, he raised an eyebrow. Then he smiled. "Hm. I suppose you won't need a review, then."

"Uhhhhh." The amateur blinked, realizing his mistake immediately as he sheepishly raised a finger. He tried to correct himself. "Well I-I mean, it probably wouldn't hurt...to review...a few of 'em."

As the other's smile widened into a knowing grin, he tried his best not to laugh. Quickly, he shook his head and took a short breath to wipe the amusement from his face. It was time for practice and focus, not giggles. No matter how silly or cute Po was sometimes.

Monkey then cleared his throat. "Yes, okay. Just follow my lead."

On his next exhale, he lowered down from his tail balance and gently rolled forward on his yoga mat, unfolding his crossed legs to rest on his hands and knees. Po followed the motion as told, but...as usual...didn't get very far.

"I'm sure you remember the cow pose," Monkey said as he flexed his spine inward with a deep breath in, and then slowly arched it upward a few seconds later. "And the cat."

Upon lifting his gaze up to watch his instructor's spinal stretching, Po very quickly realized just how bad an idea he'd gotten himself into. It was as if he was now staring straight into the heavens, or at an enormous platter of freshly baked bean buns. Only better. Somehow.

You see, he'd always recognized Monkey as a beautiful animal. That was just a given. Common sense. Simple science. Little Po, however, had never been a bear of many physical attractions that ran...deeper...than that, if you will. But now; in the unexpected moment he found himself in, he could do nothing but stare, a foreign flutter in his stomach weakening him in a way his breath couldn't even try to fight.

His jaw simply hung open for a good few seconds before he forced a shaken reply. "Uh...y-yeah."

"Good," the ape calmly answered, oblivious to his student's now dazzled state of weakness. He continued rolling his spine in and out with his breath, obviously already lost in the relish of his practice. "Don't worry about perfection, we will get there in time. Just do what feels good."

"Got it."

But as the session went on, Po only stayed right where he was. He was mesmerized: though whether it was by the sunkissed glistening of his instructor's golden coat of fur, the alluring ease with which he melted into each yoga pose so flawlessly, or, heaven forbid, the all too tantalizing flex of the muscles in his perfectly toned arms, the panda knew not. There seemed to not be a single thing about Master Monkey that didn't send his heart skipping beats these days.

It would've been pretty frustrating...had he cared. But at this point, he was just another lovesick fool.

"Yep."

"Uh-huh."

"Nice."

With each posture Monkey led him through, Po affirmed cooperation. It wasn't until about fifteen minutes into their sequence, though, that Monkey took notice of the soft absent-mindedness with which his friend spoke said affirmations.

Curiously, he blinked his eyes open, and turned from his volcano pose to see the panda sat plainly on his butt - and not even cross-legged. Monkey immediately lowered his arms down into a gesture of stunned confusion at the sight.

He coughed, "Whh! Po!?"

Po snapped back into reality with a few dazed blinks of his own before he met the other's gaze, and froze, eyes wide. He could feel the warmth rising in his cheeks instantly. Oh no..nO! An ever so awkward silence passed as the two stared at one another from their respective places. Monkey's jaw hung open; and finally, the ape sighed out a chuckle, dropping his face into his palm.

"You haven't done any of these, have you?"

"Heh...oops," Po squeaked.

After a moment, Monkey raised his face back up to send a knowing smile Po's way. "...I knew you hated yoga."

The panda could've collapsed in the relief to know that his friend still probably didn't suspect a thing. He sighed, and took the blessed opportunity to keep holding onto his dirty little secret.

"Well, to be honest, a lunch break does sound a bit more awesome right now."

Technically, it wasn't a complete lie; Po was pretty famished after all that internal swooning; and thankfully as such, it was believable enough.

Monkey only shook his head in amusement.

Notes:

Pre-KFP2.

I know yoga isn't traditionally a Chinese practice, but Legends of Awesomeness featured it once, so I can too! :')

Enjoy, my friends.