Sorry you guys! I know it has literally been forever. But i decided to return to fanfiction to continue this story. So... read on :)
"You can tell me," said Tigress.
Po stared down an alley. He took a deep breath. Maybe if he waited long enough, Tigress would go away. He moved his head slowly over his shoulder. No such luck. Tigress was still there, appearing more gold than orange in the light from the solitary lantern that hung above to eavesdrop on their tentative conversation.
Tigress sat down next to him, her lean body slumping against the wall.
Then she looked right into his eyes. Her pupils shifted a fraction to the left, then back to the right.
"Okay," said Po. "I just came out here because I couldn't be… in there." Po said, gesturing his head in the direction of the door. "All this time I thought I would be able to be the dragon warrior. But now I'm in a city, with lots of people. And they all expect me to be strong. And usually, I can…"
Po looked down.
"Not today?" Tigress asked gently.
"Today was harder," Po admitted. "I didn't feel like I fit in with you and the rest of the five."
Now it was Tigress' turn to look down.
"Really? Does it look like that?"
"Why?" Po asked.
"Because I… have never really fit in with the rest of the five," Tigress
"You!" Po said with sincere disbelief. "I'm the new guy, but you're practically the leader of the five! How do you not fit in?"
"I have always been kind of a loner" Tigress shrugged. Her words permeated through the cool night air.
"So… why did you come out here anyway?" Po asked, attempting to add some structure to the conversation.
"Because I realized that the room was missing a certain fluffy Panda that I like"
The fluffy Panda puzzled at the last three words. "That's funny. When I was up in that room with you and the rest of the five, I felt like nobody really liked me at all… people adore the dragon warrior, but I didn't feel like anybody really likes me for me…"
"I like you" Tigress purred quietly. The words slipped out of her mouth, and slid delicately down each whisker.
Tigress' voice had faded with the mellowing nature of the moment. In order to hear her better, Po slid right up next to her.
"You like me for me?" Asked Po. "What if I took off this mask, took these black markings off from around my eyes. What if I stopped being the warrior of black and white?"
"Then you would be neglecting your responsibility" Tigress said obviously
"No, but besides that, what would it make me?" Asked Po.
"Nothing different," Tigress smiled. "You would still be you."
The corner of Po's mouth moved up in a sideways smile.
The silence pervaded for a short minute.
Po asked "Is it ever hard for you Tigress? Dealing with the fame? Living up to being 'Master Tigress' of the furious five?"
"Very," Tigress responded wearily. "Sometimes it feels like I'm caring the whole of china on my shoulders… holding my head up high each day is something I have grown accustomed to, but many times it makes my neck so tired…"
"Why do you do it?" Po asked.
"There are people around…" mumbled Tigress.
Po was slightly surprised. He had never heard Tigress mumble before… but then again, he had never heard Tigress admit these things to anyone before either.
Po glanced unnecessarily at the consistent wash of gold light under the lantern.
"There are no people around now," Po said.
Tigress looked up. "You're here,"
"I'm a friend," Po said.
Tigress seemed to consider for a moment.
Po looked down with new eyes at the slender figure slumping right beside him.
"Its okay Tigress," Po whispered. "Rest your head,"
For one moment she did not move. Then she slowly tipped her head onto his shoulder.
Po felt the gentle weight of Tigress' head. He felt different. Po didn't move a muscle. He did not want to disturb the delicate position that had just… happened. He looked up at the stars with his eyes, not moving his head. For that golden moment, everything was okay. Things were …nice.
Please leave a review if you liked this chapter, or have ideas for the next chapters. I am seriously open to suggestions. Thanks for reading! :)