Po hurried along through the busy morning streets of the Valley of Peace with a full crate of vegetables and various other culinary ingredients in tow. The beloved panda stumbled and dodged his way past the many villagers as he did his best to return each friendly greeting he received, and continued on to his father's noodle shop as fast as he could go.

It was a very important day for Mr. Ping, you see, as tonight he would be hosting one of his rarest events, that was sure to bring the entire town down to Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu!

"Oh, thank goodness you're back, son!" the excited goose exclaimed not even a second later than he saw Po bounce through the shop entrance. He paused his vegetable chopping to open and hold the door to the kitchen for his son to bring in the extra cooking supplies he'd been sent out to fetch not long ago.

Po rushed in with a smile, and found a spot to gently place his shopping crate. "Sorry I took a little longer than I said, it was super busy at the marketplace for some reason."

"Excellent! Good, good!" Mr. Ping clapped his wings together joyously, completely dismissing the lateness of his request's arrival in favor of the much more captivating news. "If it's busy today, it will be busy tonight! All those hungry shoppers will be dying for a big bowl of noodles!"

Po chuckled. "Yep! And you'll be selling so many more with your super savings tonight only buy one get one fifty percent off meal deal special! ...That was it, right?"

With an ecstatic smile, the bird nodded. "Uh-huh, that's the one!"

He then twirled around to admire the beautiful poster on the wall next to them that advertised the very special Po had just described, copies of which were hung up all over the shop, and even throughout the valley! After his moment of eyeing the advertisement lovingly, he gave a dreamy sigh. Then he paused.

"...I've been wondering though, if I should change it to twenty-five percent off instead!"

"Dad!" Po exclaimed.

"What!?" his father answered defensively.

The panda gave a slightly agitated growl, which quickly softened into a stifled snort of amusement. "C'mon, you've had these posters up for weeks! You can't change the deal on the night it's happening! You'll just make people mad."

"Ugh!" Mr. Ping rolled his eyes. He knew, of course, that his son was right. As he spoke his next words, he turned to the shopping crate and started digging through the vegetables, spices, and other yummy things that were inside it. "Yes, yes, don't worry, I'm not going to change it now. I will change it next time!"

Again, Po chuckled, then he took the opportunity to dismiss himself and let his father continue minding the shop. "Alright. Weeeell, I better get back to the palace. Got some more training to do, and then I gotta get ready for-"

"Oh! That reminds me!" the goose suddenly cut the other's words off. He raised up from the crate with wings full of vegetables and a big, hopeful smile. "I could really use a bit of extra help preparing all this new soup before the rush starts! Do you think you could stop by around 4 o'clock?"

Po's eyes widened in disbelief at the request. "Dad, I can't do tonight! Monkey and I are goin' out, remember?"

"At 4 o'clock!?"

"Aghk...no! But we've got training and who knows how long that'll last, and then we have to get ready, and, ahhH! It's our first date since before we left for Gongmen City! Monkey's excited, I'm excited... Why didn't you tell me you needed help before now?" he asked.

Ping seemed to ignore the question entirely, and instead chose to pout as he transferred the new vegetables over to the ones he'd been chopping earlier. "Ohhh, I didn't think it would be this much trouble, I only need you for an hour or so!"

The bear raised an eyebrow suspiciously as he crossed his arms over his chest. "One hour?"

At the next question, Mr. Ping hesitantly turned his gaze from his vegetables back to his son. They stared at one another for a short moment, until finally, Mr. Ping shifted around to face him again, and mirrored his crossed arms. He gave a long, sad sigh, and spoke, much more gently.

"I'm sorry, Po... I guess I'm so used to how sweet you are to help your poor old dad all the time, I just forget sometimes that you have a busy life of your own!" He waddled over with a schmaltzy smile to wrap his wings across Po's belly in a big, mushy hug. "Now don't worry about me anymore! You go on back to your kung fu and your monkeyfriend, and I'll stay here...all alone...with my noodles."

Po melted into exasperation and a soft groan as he let his arms unravel to fall at his sides again. He whimpered, "Daaad, please!"

"But yes," the goose added quickly, still cuddled against his son. "One hour. Or two."

Defeated, Po sighed. "Alright... I'll come back, but I can't stay long, okay?"

"Oh, fantastic! Thank you, thank you, my son! I'll see you at 4!" Mr. Ping jumped up from the hug and spun around to skip merrily back across the kitchen and continue his vegetable chopping.

The Dragon Warrior only shook his head with a knowing smile. "See ya later, Dad."

Once Po had made his way back to the mountainside steps that led up to the Jade Palace, he took a short moment to gaze up in mental preparation. No matter how hard he trained or how many times he climbed these very stairs, the challenge remained one of the most difficult he would ever face.

"Here we go," he took a deep breath, rubbed his hands together, and then he was off.

The panda panted, grunted and heaved as the vigorous fire in his belly quickly devolved into an all-too-familiar exasperation. Though despite every stumble back and his numerous rest stops, Po's incredible tenacity, as always, stayed alive and strong. It could've taken a thousand years for him to reach the top, but he'd still get there in the end!

But luckily, it didn't take quite that long.

Po was only two more stair sets from victory when the sugar-sweet voice of an angel broke right through his adamant concentration, completely redirecting every ounce of his often disastrously single-tracked attention span.

"It's about time, Silly Panda!"

The adorably playful giggle that followed the words nearly tripped the bear up yet again as his stomach launched out the welcome mat for its bouncy butterfly friends. Po squeaked in surprise and quickly caught himself before lifting his gaze to smile bashfully up at his partner. Monkey returned the silent affection, arms crossed casually over his chest and a knowing twinkle in his bright blue eyes.

After a second or two passed, Po stifled a quiet laugh, and said, "Hey."

The ape then quickly wiped the cheesy grin clean from his own face in response, feigning seriousness, despite the honesty in his next reply. "Hurry up, Shifu's waiting for you."

"O-Oh, right," Po blushed. He lowered his gaze and pushed himself back up to finish those last two stair sets. When he reached the top, he was met with another big grin from Master Monkey. Then the simian gestured for Po to follow as he started for the training hall.

"C'mon!" he said

Suddenly, Po's eyes widened in remembrance. "Hey, wait a minute!" He hurried after his eager companion. "I need to ask you about a thing!"

"A thing?" the other warrior answered with a giggle as he landed nimbly from a leap through the air and spun around to face the panda. He continued onward, walking backwards now as to give him his full attention.

Po began a bit awkwardly, tapping his chubby digits together as he followed closely behind. "Aheh...yeah, it's um, about tonight."

Monkey raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

Po took a breath. "Weeell, y'know I went to my dad's earlier... He wanted me to get some extra stuff for him 'cus he's got that big sale special going on tonight. Anyway!-"

"He asked you for help with the dinner rush?"

"No!" the bear immediately retorted, but froze abruptly, index finger pointed, mouth agape. Hesitantly, he lowered his finger and closed his mouth again. Monkey shot him an amused, knowing look. "I mean...not exactly..."

Monkey teasingly replied, "Well what exactly did he ask, then?"

Po grunted in slight frustration and paused from his words a moment. More than anything, he didn't want to mess up their plans for tonight, as it wasn't terribly often they got chances to spend time together like this. They were masters first, partners second.

Shortly, Po tried again. "He needs help preparing for tonight. He asked me to stop by around 4 for a bit, and...I couldn't say no to him. There's no telling how long he'll try to keep me there, though! So I was just wondering...if..."

"Iiiiifff?" his teammate asked.

"If...you'd go with me?"

Monkey furrowed his brow in confusion and slight surprise before he brought his backwards walking to a stop finally, and tilted his head back a bit. "Why would you need me? You worked there your whole life, you can handle it, surely."

Po hesitantly said, "Well, yeah! But if you're there, my dad probably won't keep us that long! And then when we're done, we can head right out for the night. It's perfect! ...Plus, he really did seem kinda serious about needing our help for a bit."

"Your help," Monkey corrected him shamelessly.

"AhhH, c'mon, Monkey!" he clasped his hands together and leaned in a bit closer to plead with his partner. "It'll be way more fun with you there anyway! Pleeeeeeease?"

"Hmmmmmmm," the ape narrowed his eyes in consideration, bringing a hand to his chin. Po stayed in his pleading posture, and after a short moment, he poked his bottom lip out to compliment his next move, as he melted into big, sad puppy eyes. Monkey groaned and quickly looked away...but it was too late. "Ugh! ...Fiiiiiine."

Po jumped up in triumph. "Yesss! You're the best!"

"You're just lucky I can't disappoint sad pandas," Monkey jested.

He turned around to face forward down the path to the training hall again, and proceeded on his knuckles with intent. "Now let's join Shifu and the others before we end up with no plans except palace cleaning duty!"

With training behind them and the evening right around the corner, it was finally time for Monkey and Po to head out to Mr. Ping's noodle shop, and then, to the night together they'd been so patiently anticipating.

Mr. Ping was busily mopping the floors now that the last of his lunch guests were gone; he hummed and sang along to his work quietly, until the very interruption he'd been waiting for all day broke through the dead afternoon like a glorious ray of sunshine.

"Hey Dad!"

The ecstatic goose dropped his mop and spun around beaming with glee, ready to leap right into a big, furry panda hug. "Ah! My son! Just in time!" Though he stopped short, at the realization that his son was not alone.

Monkey smiled and waved a hand in the air. "Hi, Mr. Ping!"

For a moment, the bird only stood opposite the two masters. Then he blinked. Then suddenly, he hopped right back into his joyous rhythm, clapping his wings together in celebration. "Fantastic thinking, Po! I could always use an extra pair of hands!" He paused a bit after the words, before stepping closer to pat Monkey's arm. "Er, good to see you, Monkeyfriend!"

Monkey gave an awkward chuckle in return.

"On with noodles!" Mr. Ping then announced a battlecry without a second to spare. Turning back around, he took the lead, and marched forward toward the kitchen. Monkey and Po exchanged glances of mutual uncertainty, before bravely following behind.

As soon as they arrived, the goose stationed them to preparing bean buns and chopping more vegetables while he returned outside to finish up his mopping. He then continued, "You two should have seen my lunch rush today! So many starving folk looking for half-price noodles, and staying anyway even when I don't have them yet!"

He laughed, "Not all of them, of course! But enough to up my daily profits!"

"That's great, Dad!" Po replied from his post in the kitchen.

Soon enough, Mr. Ping was done cleaning the dining area and back with his two furry helpers again. As he and Po got a new pot of broth started, Monkey was left tending to vegetables and bean buns. For a while, at least; until the first early dinner customers began to arrive.

Mr. Ping gasped excitedly as a family of pigs walked in. He quickly turned to Monkey. "How's your customer service, Monkeyfriend?"

"Uhh," the ape reached a hand behind his head to scratch. "Probably alright...I guess?"

"Perfect!"

Seemingly out of nowhere, Ping pulled out an apron and tied it around Monkey's waist. He then pulled him away from bean bun duty and out to the dining area before he said, "Go entertain our guests while we get these noodles going!"

"Dad!" Po hissed. "I thought we were just helping you cook!"

Mr. Ping assured his son, "Don't worry, I'll take over when the soup's ready!"

But as late afternoon became early evening and more and more customers crowded into the restaurant for the special dinner sale, Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu quickly, even sooner than Mr. Ping had anticipated, became the biggest hotspot in the Valley of Peace; and it wasn't long at all before he had both Monkey and Po out waiting on his countless tables.

Frantically, the boys rushed back and forth between them, doing their very bests to keep every guest satisfied, as Ping, naturally, dedicated himself to the kitchen. The system was working incredibly well with the new placements! ...Even if, there remained the issue of time and how quickly it was passing.

Which Po could not ignore any longer.

On his next visit to the back for a new run of noodles, the panda finally spoke up to remind his father of his and Monkey's date. He whimpered, "Dad, I dunno how much longer we can keep doing this, it's getting kinda late... We should really go soon."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, son," Mr. Ping replied in exasperation. "I didn't expect this rush to happen so fast!"

Po hesitantly continued, "So...when do you think we can go, then?"

"I..." the goose started to request just a bit more of his son's time, but stopped short when Monkey came through the kitchen door to join them. After an awkward few seconds of silence, the simian blinked and hopped a bit closer to send a curious gaze up to his partner. Po returned the gaze with a forced smile, though the worry in his emerald eyes was still more than evident. Mr. Ping could do nothing but soften into a guilty sigh. "I suppose you can go...now."

But no sooner than the words escaped his beak, yet another large crowd of guests entered the already-packed restaurant, completely redirecting the moment's focus.

Ping's jaw dropped. "Oh goodness."

Po and Monkey's eyes widened in unison.

Shortly after the shocking sight, the Dragon Warrior bit his lip and looked fearfully between his dad and his partner, then back out to the crowded restaurant. He knew without a doubt how badly his father still needed their extra help, but along with the thought of disappointing Monkey, and the chaotic mess that was only getting increasingly overwhelming, Po could barely focus on any of it anymore.

He blinked a few times as he struggled to fight through the familiar muscle tension and brain fog with a deep, cleansing breath. Monkey took notice of his teammate's troubled state almost immediately, and carefully asked, "Po?"

When he didn't respond, the ape brought his attention back to the crowd outside, then averted his furrowed gaze thoughtfully. After the short moment of consideration, he looked back up to Po with a smile, and placed a gentle touch to the bear's arm. Monkey then turned to Mr. Ping.

"Don't worry, Mr. Ping," he told him confidently. "We can reschedule our date. We're gonna stay and help you tonight."

Mr. Ping blinked in surprise, beak dropped open. "Y-You… Really!?"

Po too managed to break out of his anxious confliction at the words; he shook his head a bit and turned around to face the two of them with the same shocked expression. "What?"

The simian grinned knowingly in response to both of them before he grabbed Po's arm and started for the kitchen door again. He called back to Mr. Ping as they went out. "Now get those noodle soups ready! We've got this."

And so the busy night went on at Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu.

With Mr. Ping's two helpers now fully dedicated to the cause, things were more successful than he ever could've hoped for. Monkey quickly proved to be exceptional at the art of serving, and a perfect compliment to Po's unique flow; and with Mr. Ping in the back doing what he did best, it wasn't long before the once chaotic mess was a beautifully effective system yet again.

Everything continued smoothly as the last few hours of the sale flew by and the rush gradually died down, until all but a small handful of the many guests had bidden farewell.

Po had moved back into the kitchen to assist his father with the washing up, while Monkey took care of the remaining two tables.

"Po...I really didn't mean to ruin your plans like this... If I had only known it was going to be this crazy..."

The goose trailed off nervously as he kept his gaze down on the bowls he was cleaning. Po glanced over to him, only to soften at the guilt in his face. He picked the words back up with his own. "...Dad, if only I'd known, we wouldn't have made our plans on the same night. That was a bad idea, anyway."

Mr. Ping forced a smile before looking up from their tub of soapy water, and out to the ape who was still serving their last customers. Suddenly, he shifted into a more excited tone.

"How can I ever repay that one for all his hard work, though? The boy's a natural, he didn't even need training! And did you see him carrying those trays with his tail!?" He paused, then quickly added, "You should bring him along more often!"

"Heheh," Po chuckled softly as a rosy tinge coated his cheeks. "Yeah...Monkey's kinda the best." He momentarily looked away after saying the words, trying not to think about how much he'd ruined their night together more than his dad had.

But the panda's troubling thoughts were shortly redirected by a gentle touch. He looked back to his dad, who met him with a warm and sincere smile. "I'm glad you're happy, son."

Po blinked, and then melted into another bashful one of his own.

"I really cannot thank you boys enough!"

Mr. Ping wrapped his son in a big, cuddly goodbye hug as he stood with him and Monkey at the entrance of the restaurant, ready to part ways for the night. The three of them had worked hard and everything was finally closed up and squeaky clean for a new day tomorrow.

Monkey stifled a giggle. "Don't mention it, Mr. Ping."

When the goose finished cuddling Po, he turned to his other diligent little worker. Monkey brought his hands together for a bow, but before he could even finish it, Mr. Ping snatched him into a tight embrace as well; though it earned a small yelp of surprise, it was quickly returned by the simian with a second laugh.

"There, there," Ping sighed happily as he patted his back a few times. "If you're going to be part of the family now, you get Mr. Ping's Special Family Goose Hugs!"

"Sounds good to me," he answered with a grin.

Po could barely contain his giddy excitement at the sight of his father and partner getting along so well. For years, Mr. Ping had known Monkey as both a kung fu master and a comrade to his son, but it had only been in recent months that Po had decided to open up to his dad further. The bear slapped his hands loosely over his mouth in efforts to keep from squeaking like a baby.

Then Mr. Ping released the hug and stepped back to wave them off. "Goodnight, you two, I'll see you soon!"

"Goodnight, Dad! Love you!" Po squeaked.

Monkey waved back. "Goodnight, sir!"

"Love you too, son! And you, Monkey!" the bird replied as he turned to waddle back to his shop, leaving them to their journey home to the Jade Palace.

For a moment, the two masters only stood where they were silently. Then Master Monkey took a deep, satisfying breath, and turned to his partner in glowing triumph. His smile, however, instantly vanished at the downright pitiful expression of sorrow he was met with. Monkey blinked widely and flinched back a bit, completely taken off guard.

"P-Po!?"

The puzzled ape very hesitantly edged forward again, but stopped short as the Dragon Warrior opened his mouth.

"Monkey," he began softly, his tone just as pitiful as the look on his face. He could barely make eye contact as he struggled to gather his next words. "I...am so sorry."

Monkey blinked again. "Sorry? For what!?"

Po sank into his own befuddlement at the response, eyes wide. He looked around before meeting the other's gaze again with a shrug of irony, then he exclaimed, "What do you mean 'for what', I ruined our date! We weren't supposed to stay here all night! We were supposed to be out talking and laughing and having fun and...stuff."

The bear shook his head as he trailed off and looked away again.

"Hey, now you wait just a minute!" Monkey took over suddenly. He hopped in closer to his comrade and met him with a reprimanding nudge. "Our date hasn't even happened yet!"

"Ugh, yeah, because I totally messed up our plans!"

"Noooo, because we moved our plans, so we could help your dad! Nobody ruined anything, it's fine! We did what we were supposed to do tonight. And besides," the ape continued with a cheesy eyeroll before he gently caught Po's hand. "I'm just happy to spend time together no matter what we do."

Po's eyes widened at the words as a rosy blush crept over his face. Bashfully, he tucked his chin down a bit, but was unable to stop the soft smile his lips grew into; and soon, his worries were forgotten. He agreed, "...Yeah."

With a submissive sigh, the bear continued. "I mean, I'm really glad we stayed and helped. It meant a lot to him, and I don't really get to that much anymore." His green eyes widened suddenly in excitement. "And he totally loves you so much now, he told me to bring you more often! ...I think you impressed him with your tail thing."

Monkey giggled with pride. "I'm pretty partial to that one, myself!"

"I know, it's the coolest ever!" Po exclaimed.

A short moment of peace passed between them before Po looked up to the clear night sky, and sighed again, contentedly. He then said, "I still kinda wish we had somewhere fun to go tonight instead of just back home to sleep."

Monkey brought a finger up to his chin and thoughtfully averted his gaze. Some seconds and a quiet "hmmm" later, he looked to his partner again with a bright, mischievous grin.

"Come with me!" he answered.

Grabbing Po's hand, the ape led them off to find the stairs leading back up to the Jade Palace. Up they climbed, rest stops and all, until they reached the top; but instead of heading to the barracks, Monkey veered to the path that led to the training hall. As they arrived and quietly entered into the moon-bathed courtyard, Po's curiosity finally got the better of him.

He whispered, "Why are we here?"

Monkey made sure the gate was closed behind them, before he turned to meet the panda's gaze, oceanic hues riddled with the same mischievous glint from earlier. He smiled as he took Po's hands and a few steps back to rest against the courtyard wall.

"Because no one would think to find us here," he said plainly through a giggle. Gently, he pulled Po in closer and reached his arms up to wrap around his neck. Po blushed as the space between them grew thin; and as their foreheads met, the weakness in his chest returned with a vengeance. He knew what was next, and even before its time, it was more than welcome. Monkey purred on, "Now kiss me, Panda."

Breath taken, Po melted obediently into the shared mouthful and all too perfect ending to such an unceremonious day.

Notes:

Post-KFP2.

...It's called subtext, Steven.

Just thought I'd shift the timeline a bit. My apologies if anything is confusing; I know I left some important questions unanswered, but it's all part of the plan. :')

Enjoy!