A/N: Second Chapter up! Im happy with the feedback I got on the first one so I decided to make this one as soon as possible. This one has a lot more character development than most others will so apologies if I go into a lot of detail. That being said I give you chapter 2!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda

Chapter 2

Concerns

"Inner Peace..." Po quietly spoke to himself while in a calm meditative pose. He was using the inner peace technique in combination with meditation to calm his mind and body after the vigorous training he had just done. Each morning for the last month, Po had run up the 1000 steps to the palace 3-4 times. At first it was Shifu's idea as he claimed "you need to conquer all your demons Po, and since I hear you have always had qualms with stairs you will run up the 1000 stairs several times every day for the next week." He chuckled at the thought as he remembered all the times when he would be unable to scale a flight of stairs or whenever he did get to the top he would either pass out or fall back down the stairs. Although after that week of running up and down the stairs twice, he noticed that his efforts were paying off and for the first time in his life he had actually lost weight. However after two weeks of running up the stairs it started to get too easy and so he began to run up and down 3-4 times instead to increase his stamina.

Now a whole month later, his Results were really showing as Po hardly even looked like a normal Panda, he had lost almost half of his belly fat and he was now easily able to keep up with the same pace as many of his friends excluding Mantis who was fast on another level entirely. He now fit into his training clothes perfectly as well as looked much more athletically toned through his fur. To say he was happy with the results would be an understatement, in fact the last month and a half was one of the happiest times in his life, as he had accomplished several of his goals, to lose weight and become a teacher of martial arts.

While he peacefully sat near the dragon grotto, his ears perked up as he heard a faint cracking noise in the area. He sensed that he wasn't alone. So he picked up his staff that he had laid on the ground before him and stood up with his eyes closed. He had a good idea of where or rather who the noise had come from and so he called out "You know curiosity killed the cat right?" He then chuckled to himself still with his eyes closed as he prepared for the impending attack. He then turned around and used his staff and focused his Chi to block the powerful kick of the attacker. A large ring of energy pulsated from the origin of the move making shock waves which blew back the leaves on nearby plants and disturbed the water in the cave.

As the attacker was launched from him upon impact Po said out loud while chuckling to himself "I'm glad I had time to prepare for that." When the attacker landed they spoke out "You of all people should know that no one mocks me and gets away with it 'Dragon Warrior'." Po then spoke again "how long have you been following me this time 'Master Tigress'?" Tigress was taken back by this question by the Panda, she didn't understand how he knew she had followed him more than once this week. So instead of answering his question she answered with a question of her own "What makes you think I followed you more than once?" Po chuckled to himself as he remembered talking to Viper, he had spoken to her earlier in the week and she had told him that Tigress had followed and watched him during his morning training twice this week. He decided not to reveal the real reason to avoid getting Viper into trouble, while also knowing that it would drive the female Tiger crazy and answered back "It doesn't matter how I know, what matters is why you keep watching me train every morning." As Po expected, this irritated Tigress as she let out a small growl, she did not like secrets kept from her especially from her closest friends, but respecting her friend's privacy she backed off and answered his question "We've been worried about you lately Po...I've been worried about you..."

Po wasn't surprised by the first thing she had said, he knew that the others had been worried about him for the last few weeks. In fact he was getting a little annoyed when either one of the five, Shifu or anyone else would ask if he was alright when he seemed tired while teaching, during meals or any other time. He would admit to himself that he was tired most times that they would ask, teaching Kung Fu took it out of him along with his training. However the second thing she said surprised him, he had never taken Tigress for the caring type. He always thought that nothing fazed what he would call 'the most Hardcore Master in all of China', however considering how close they were as friends he understood the feeling of worry and decided to lighten the mood with another joke "what? Is it because 'THE Big Fat Panda' is not so big and fat anymore?"

Tigress almost laughed at this, throughout the years she had known the Panda, her and him had become very close friends and one of the things she knew well about him was that he could ease any tension with his silly nature and sense of humor. She decided to answer back with some fun of her own "fat no, big yes" Po laughed at this and sarcastically said "wow Tigress! I didn't know you were capable of humor!" She couldn't help but chuckle at the Panda's comments as she answered back again "well, the Hardcore have to lighten up from time to time..."

Po was happy that Tigress and him were such close friends, after all, ever since he was a teenager she had been one of his idols, in fact of all the action figures in his collection hers was his favorite. He said "I'm glad I got to meet all of you Tigress, Oogway really was right when he said 'there are no accidents', everything I aspired to be when I was younger has been made possible by you guys." Tigress was touched by this, her and the Five knew very well how much of a fan Po was and still is of them, though it made her reflect on the time when he first came to the Palace after being declared the Dragon Warrior and how she was very cold and rude towards him, not giving him a chance to prove everyone he was the Dragon Warrior. She slightly frowned at the thought, this didn't go unnoticed by Po who knew the exact reason for her action. In truth he didn't blame anyone for their unaccetptance towards him as he believed in letting the wrongs of the past to wash away, this was also one of the reasons he was able to achieve inner peace so young. To cheer his friend up he said "come on, lets head back to the palace, the gong will go off any minute now, I'd also like if you would come with me on a mission later."

Tigress nodded and began to follow Po back to the Palace grounds, however she suddenly stopped, having been lost in thought. 'I wonder what kind of mission he could mean?, why do I feel so different around him lately? Like I'm much more comfortable around him than anyone else...'. Her thoughts were shortly interrupted as Po called back to her "coming?" She broke out of her trance nodding to him and caught up to him as they walked down the cliffs towards the Palace.

A/N: Chapter 2 done! Hopefully it will give some insight into why Po has been training so hard lately. I hope to post another chapter sometime on the weekend or before then. Remember to Review, favorite or follow and stay tuned for chapter 3!