I'm not dead! Woot!
In case you haven't been able to tell, updates for this story are going to be crazy random with no schedule at all. I'm bad at being on task, but there ain't nobody that can procrastinate as well as I can!
I wish this chapter could be longer, but...it just didn't happen. It covers everything it needs to. Oh-ho-ohhh next chapter's gonna be fun to write! I will be lathering on the humor like no other. I'm excited already!
My reviewers. You are all the best people in the world. I don't mean to be rude when I don't respond to you, I just prefer giant all-in-one notes to you guys rather then individual ones. Hugs to all of you!
Note: Could you...tell me if a skipped over words or something? I do that a lot. Also, expect another update within the week (Thanksgiving break baby!) even though I hate to promise anything...
Just wanna say thanks to KristenTheKittyKat, who isn't mad at me even though I'm like, the worst co-author ever. (ASAKHSJDHF I CAN'T BELIEVE I SPELLED YOUR NAME WRONG I'M SO SORRY)
Disclaimer: Don't own KFP...BUT (I love saying that!) I do own Dai Li!
...
As Po squinted at the familiar pattern of the wooden door, he gave a heavy sigh. Guilt was eating away at him. He shut his eyes and reached out to ring the doorbell.
The door swung open near immediately, and the blue-eyed girl standing inside the house was silent.
He rubbed at his newly healed wrist. It was a habit he'd picked up; rubbing his pain when he was nervous. Now it didn't hurt anymore, but still…
She noticed his lack of a splint. "You're better?"
"Yeah." He attempted to meet her eyes, and failed. "Listen, Vi, I've been a jerk the past few weeks. And not just any a jerk—I've been a bitter jerk, which is at least a million times worse then normal jerkism." Viper's lips twitched; she managed to keep her face neutral. "There's a lot of things I've though about, conversations I've had, and since you're my best friend I thought you'd be the first to know. Number one of my list is for me to tell you that I'm sorry. Really, really sorry."
Po momentarily saw stars when the petite girl jumped forward and threw her arms around his midsection. Tears literally brimmed on his lids as he hugged back. "You're such a dork, Nobody," Viper mumbled into his shoulder.
"I know."
In all likelihood, the two friends would've hugged each other for a lifetime—if an annoyed snap from deeper in the house hadn't brought them back to reality. Mantis stood in all his under-six-foot glory, arms crossed, sporting a magnificent frown. The red eyes Po believed were friendly had a foreign sense of loathing about them.
"What are you doing here?"
It wasn't a question; it was an accusation. Mantis looked positively hostile. Po gulped and released Viper, drumming his fingers together. "Um," he said intelligently.
Viper jumped in then. Her tone was exasperated as was the fist on his hip. "Leave him alone, Mantis. Just tell him you want a hug too instead of making him sweat."
Mantis' glare flicked toward her for one fleeting moment. Then it simply vanished—instantly replaced by his characteristic grin as he took a single step forward and nearly flew into Po's tentatively awaiting arms.
"I missed you around here, Big Guy!" the shorter boy said, while Po chuckled quietly. "Do you have any idea how grumpy Viper is when she's in one of her 'moods'?" He let go and jabbed a finger into Po's chest. "Leaving a brother to handle that alone is not cool."
Po had the decency to blush. "Yeah, well, that won't be happening again any time soon," he promised, eyes flickering towards Viper.
She pressed her hands over her mouth—blinking rapidly as if suppressing tears. "Come here you big softie," she mumbled, grabbing him again.
"Hey, easy on the huggy stuff." Mantis looked on with disapproval. "I don't want to throw up all over the porch."
The two let go again, sporting wide smiles. "You have a lot of explaining to do," Viper said, trying for a serious tone but having it ruined by the intensity of her smile.
"I do. And it's going to take a while."
Brother and sister glanced at each other. "I'll tell Mom to make a Po-sized dinner serving," Mantis said as he strode back inside the house.
Good thing Mantis was always a few steps ahead.
Xxxxx
Viper hugged the edge of her pillow, watching Po with wide eyes. He was sprawled on the floor of her room—sharing what happened to him the past few weeks. His eyes never left the ceiling. Viper wanted to blurt out her own experience, but was polite enough to wait for him to finish.
"So I told my dad what Principal Oogway said," Po went on now tracing circles in the carpet beside him, "and he didn't agree. Like, at all. He doesn't want me doing anything that might hurt me. I thought Tai Lung hurts me way more then any sport could, but he just wouldn't listen. We got in a huge fight." Po sighed. "Then he kind of just deflated and told me to do whatever I pleased, as long as I never complained."
"Aw, Po," Viper sympathized. "You poor thing!"
"It's not that bad." For the first time, the chubby boy turned to face her. "We've fought before. Usually, we'll both be majorly pissed at the other person, then things just die down…It's so much easier being on good terms with each other then not."
Po fell into a thoughtful silence. His expression clouded and he looked into the carpet. "I…I asked him about my mom." His voice cracked. "I did it when I was mad and I just needed to talk to someone that wasn't him. He…he wouldn't tell me. He got teary-eyed and left me alone for the rest of the day."
Viper slid off her bed. She sat beside her friend and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey…don't worry about it. He'll tell you when he's ready."
On the subject of his mom, Po became eerily silent. Viper cleared her throat. "Well, anyway, are you going to take Oogway's advice?"
"I dunno," the teenager replied honestly. "Should I?"
That was a good question. Viper jutted out her chin. "I think it would be for the best."
Po didn't hesitate; "Then I will."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
Viper smiled at Po, and he smiled back.
Then Mantis, being himself, stormed in while throwing confetti at them and declared it Celebrate Because Po's Back and I'm Not Alone Anymore Day.
No wonder he didn't have a girlfriend.
Xxxxx
"You ready?"
Po stared blankly at the gray seat in front of him. The old yellow bus rolled to a stop. Viper looked at him seriously.
"Yeah." Po took a deep breath. "Yeah, let's do this."
Viper took the brunt of the wads of paper aimed at Po—going as far as catching a few and pegging them at their throwers. Po heard one blond boy mumble, "Paper should not hurt that much," and grinned slightly.
He was immensely glad for Viper and her never-ending patience. He thought she was hate him…and she just took him back like nothing happened.
He looked at her gratefully. "Thanks."
"For what?"
"Just, you know. Stuff." Po shrugged and she just gave him a quirky smile. It fled quickly as her skin paled.
"Po…there's something you need to know?"
"What?" he mumbled, eyes trained on his locker.
"There's…well…she…" Viper froze at the sound of a monotone behind her.
"Good morning, Viper," Tigress said quite rigidly. She met Po's emotionless stare with one of her own. "And g…good morning, Po."
There was a tense moment of silence. Po broke it by slamming his locker shut and saying loudly, "Okay, I'm going to bite; what do you want?"
Viper bit her lip and looked back and forth from green to gold eyes. Tigress didn't seem half has haggard as she was the weeks before, but traces of late-nights still hung near her eyes. "To say good morning," she said tersely. "And more, if you're willing to listen."
"I'm not," Po didn't miss a beat. He stared Tigress down wearily.
"I'm ready to speak when you are ready to listen," she replied. With a slight nod in Viper's direction, Tigress spun on her heel and walked away.
"What was that?" Po and Viper hissed at each other in a perfect unison.
"Why is she—"
"Listen, I kind of –"
"—I don't trust her!—"
"- You don't have to but –"
"—let him almost kill me if you forgot—"
"—doesn't mean you gotta be a jerk—"
"—laughed at me since eighth grade—"
"—She's sorry you hypocrite!"
Breathing hard, Viper glared at Po murderously. His was taken back. "She's really sorry for everything, she told me! And I believe her! Everyone has good in them somewhere- Including Tigress."
"You wanted to kill her a few days ago…"
Viper shook her head. "We've been…on a truce since you stopped talking to me. You know, nearly four weeks ago?" Her hands suddenly grabbed his shoulders. "I know she was awful, and that she doesn't deserve to be your friend yet…but please just let her explain herself! Her life isn't black and white like you think it is!"
Po's eyes narrowed. "And you know that because you're all buddy-buddy with her now, right? Do you stay up late and tell each other secrets?"
"Po, you don't know—"
"I bet you've told her things you wouldn't even think of telling me!" Po's tone sharpened. "Did you even miss me?"
Viper bowed her head, fists clenched by her sides. "Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about."
"I do know exactly what I'm talking about," Po countered, ignoring the late bell as it echoed in the now empty hallway, "in case you've forgotten, she just watched me get beaten to within an inch of my life—"
He was shut up by the abrupt slap to his face.
Viper stood, arm outstretched, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. A stinging pain began to tingle his cheek as he glared at her. "You don't know what you're talking about," Viper hissed with a controlled calm. "You put her through torture…"
"Like I wouldn't know what that's like."
Viper looked ready to slap him again. She raised her hand to do so, then let it fall to her side. "This isn't worth it," she sounded resigned. "Get to class Po."
She left him.
Po nursed his cheek. Stupid friends. He was right to abandon them when he didn't, if they were just going to backstab him when he needed them most.
Stupid, stupid friends.
Xxxxx
"'Get to class, Po,' she says. 'You don't what you're saying.'" Po blew air out through his clenched lips. "Stupid Viper. Thinking she's so high and mighty…"
Po stumbled into Mr. Shifu's classroom, swearing angrily. The old man was obviously surprised his least favorite student was visiting him after school…
"Do you need something, Po?"
"Yeah, Mr. Shifu, as a matter of fact I do." Po bowed in respect. "I need to learn kung fu from you, master."
The elderly man dropped the papers in his hand. "You."
Po nodded solemnly.
"You want to learn kung fu."
"Yep."
"From me."
Po looked a bit uncertain. "Yes…"
"And who on earth told you I would do that?"
Both Po and Mr. Shifu froze—a voice from behind interrupted them. "I did," Principal Oogway said sedately, leaning on his cane. "And you will, Mr. Shifu."
"But—"
"Please, don't make this harder then it needs to be," Oogway said quietly. He smiled warmly at Po. "It's good that you took my advice."
"Your advice was pretty good, Principal Oogway."
And it was.
Xxxxx
"I'm sorry," Viper reiterated through clenched teeth. "I didn't know that he'd turned into such a huge –"
"I'm not blaming you. I'm just…wondering aloud."
Viper frowned and looked at Tigress. The golden-eyed girl looked sad…not haggard…just sad. Viper sighed and looked down at her lunch, poking it lamely with her spoon.
"I really don't know," Viper went on. "I'm really sorry, Tigress, I thought he would at least listen." Her voice choked up. "I really, honestly did…"
"It's not your fault." Tigress bit into a forkful of salad. "It's mine."
There was no argument against that.
They ate in silence for a few more minutes, when Tigress' friends suddenly surrounded their table. They greeted Viper like an old friend. To her slight embarrassment, Crane took the seat beside her and offered to split his dessert if she promised to sit with them more often.
"I'd love to," she said and snagged a bite of his brownie. In the back of her might she knew she was backstabbing Po, and part of herself, but at that moment it felt good to be sharing food with a cute, charming guy that wouldn't start talking about things he didn't know.
Viper looked down at her last bite of brownie. A small smile flickered on her face and she reached out to Tigress. "Here," she offered. "Everything's going to be fine."
There was a considerable amount of confusion in Tigress' eyes. It morphed into contentment and she accepted the chocolate, nodding her agreement.
It that moment of perfect harmony—somewhere, angels were singing—came a swaggering, smirking, dripping-with-arrogance boy with his arm around and equally sickening girl. He plopped down next to Tigress.
His expression killed whatever happiness had managed to shine. Crane's grin instantly turned itself upside down, resulting in Viper's doing the same. Monkey ended his conversation with Tigress and Mei Ling abruptly, giving Tai Lung his full attention.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news," Tai Lung said while wringing his hands, "but I think I should be the one to tell you. Because it's bloody bad news."
He sighed dramatically, and the pause was (apparently) too long for some, because Dai Li leaped from her seat in near hysterics. "The-the blubber ball is going to do kung fu with us!" Then she fell back into her seat and threw herself in Tai Lung's arms, shaking and mumbled nonsense.
Tai Lung kissed the top of her head while stroking her hair. "Yeah. We overheard him talking to Shifu yesterday, after school. Principal Oogway is all for it too."
No one had a reaction quite as melodramatic as Dai Li's—but no one was happy either. "What?" Monkey demanded, while Tigress kept her mouth shut tightly. Mei Ling gave Crane a worried look, which he returned with concern in his own eyes. Viper's nails left small trenches in the table where she dragged her fingers through.
"What's so bad about that?" she asked quietly.
"He's the fatso, that's what!" Dai Li whimpered. "Does anything else need to be said?"
No, Viper, calm yourself and just stay silent. Po doesn't deserve you now anyway.
Completely ignoring her better judgment, Viper's hatred for injustice spoke; "Yes, Blondie, you need a lot more reasons to pick on him like that. Incase you can't get it through your thick-as-stone skull, he's a human just like you are. The only difference are chromosomes; other then that he's the exact same."
A moment of tense silence followed. "Who invited you here, anyway?" Tai Lung said with some defensiveness creeping into his voice.
"I did," Tigress answered immediately. "If that bothers you then you can take it up with me, Tai Lung, just stop hurting people that don't deserve it."
The angry-eyed boy glared at her, then turned away. "Well I know I'm not the only one who thinks this is an outrage. Monkey, you hate this too, right?"
Monkey ran a hand through his messy hair. "Hate isn't the right word," he admitted. "I'm just…annoyed. Kinda angry. He'll slow us down."
Tai Lung grunted. "Okay, fine. What about you Crane? Pal?"
"Tai, you know I'm neutral about this stuff," Crane said softly. "I'm not on a side."
"I'm with Crane on this one," Mei Ling piped up. She slipped her hand into Crane's.
Tai Lung's head whipped wildly among his friends. His gaze finally landed on Viper, where it stuck. "You all want to follow this bubble-headed bitch? Be my bloody guest." He stood, and Dai Li stood with him. "I'll take care of ole Fatso myself."
"Do it," Viper warned venomously, just as Tigress threatened, "And I'll stop you myself."
Xxxx
"Do you know what balance means, Ping?"
Po flung his arms out in wide arcing circles as he tried to keep himself upright. Under Shifu's scrutinizing glare everything seemed twice as hard—even balancing on a stupid beam.
"I'm trying, Master," he responded.
"Well try harder!" Shifu barked. A thin staff he was clutching in his head came down readily on Po's head. Po saw stars for a minute (and felt like a Looney Tunes character for much longer).
After some more struggling and arm-swinging, Po finally righted himself. Shifu nodded in rigid approval. "Good. Now, ready stance like I taught you."
Po jumped from his single foot to both, knees apart, elbows in. He kept his hands open (for quicker, more agile blows) and breathed steady.
Shifu studied him for a few seconds. Without any warning, the old man attacked with his staff. Po didn't even attempt to block—he simply lost everything and received a firm smack on his noggin as a reward.
"Ugh!" he exclaimed in pain. Grabbing at his injury, Po asked, "Can we take a break or something?"
"Yes," Shifu agreed, "a break would do us both good."
Po trotted off to the other end of the dojo. While it had many rooms, Shifu chose the largest one with a wall made of mirrors to teach Po in—so he could see himself as he learned. Something about images sticking with the brain or blah, blah, Po couldn't care less.
He was sweating buckets and they'd been going for less then an hour. Twice he felt like he wanted to faint, and four times he threw up. Shifu hated this lesson just as much as Po did, if not more.
And if things couldn't possibly get any worse, the door swung open to reveal Viper. Alone, thankfully, but Viper nonetheless. She actually looked ready to spar—in Nike clothes and protective gear under her arm, rather then Po's dingy t-shirt and too-small basketball shorts.
He panicked, of course. While scrambling for a hiding place, he forgot about the water bottle in his hand. When he tripped it became a very…wet experience.
He let himself lay face-down on the floor for a while only daring to look up when he heard hesitant giggling. Viper was standing next to him looking down, blue orbs alight with mischief. "Need some help?" she asked, extending a hand to him.
"Urgh. Thanks." Po lifted himself up and quickly dropped her delicate hand. He looked at his toes. "Why're you here?"
"I train too, you know," she replied. "And I guess I chose a good time. Shifu's probably been hard on you. Having someone around can ease the pressure."
Po looked up at her then away quickly. "So…"
Viper jumped in with a hand on his arm. "Listen…we were both just mad," she said, referring to their fight on Monday. "You're ignorant about Tigress' life, and I got mad at you for it. It shouldn't have happened, and I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't go flapping my jaw about stuff I don't know…"
Viper, blushing now, looked down at her toes. "I…sorry about, er, slapping you too."
"It's cool. I bet it felt good."
Viper brought her head up, smiling. "It felt awesome. Now you might want to get back to Shifu. I think he's contemplating using his staff as a javelin…" she said thoughtfully.
Po wiped sweat off his brow and trotted back to his master. Even with Viper, this was going to be a long lesson.