Dusk reigned on the recovering city of Gongman. The kung fu warriors and masters were already straining themselves from the days work of helping the civilians in rebuilding the damage from the reign of Lord Shen (whilst still trying to treat their wounds, mind you), so at night they would retreat back to the local "Crimson Inn".

From masters Oz, Croc and Shifu, to the Furious Five, them and their bandaged bodies lay to rest in their own individual rooms, some even shared.

All except for two notable warriors...

At the end of the hall way lay a singular room on the first floor, fully separated from the rest of the rooms on the second floor. And in that room a singular, small lantern shone brightly against the walls of that room, illuminating the sights for both the panda and the tiger.

Yes, that's right, the Dragon Warrior and the ferocious Master Tigress... alone, together.

Some would say both literally and metaphorically. Earlier in the night, Po went down to Tigress' solemn room with everyone fast asleep, choking up the excuse that he just 'couldn't sleep' and 'needed to talk to someone'. Tigress knew full well she was in the same boat though so she allowed him to stay with her. And together they spent the last hour or two, or more (they both seemed to have lost any track of time) as they kept close to each other, shoulder to shoulder, entertaining themselves with personal whispers and hushed giggles. They don't even know what made any of their situations funny to them, but the ways of humour seem to be just as mysterious as the night surrounding them.

They weren't even on the bed, they were just huddled on the ground with their backs against the bed frame, bare fur to bare fur.

Suddenly, Po had to ask after the two shared a small fit of laughter. "Hey... how's your side?" He referred to the bandages wrapped around her lower torso, the damage the wound caused made Tigress strip herself of her qipao, but she made sure to keep her chest wrappings on for modesty's sake. She shrugged. "Fine, I suppose..."

"And your arm?" The panda reached across her form to get a good look at her wrapped up left arm, but with the feline's defences, she dodged him. "Po, trust me, I am fine. I don't need to be coddled."

The bear sighed. "I know... it's just—you took most of the shot from Shen. Doesn't it hurt?"

Tigress breathed through her nose in thought. "Not as much as you'd think... I don't feel anything, remember?" She smirked a bit. Po shook his head in protest, "Nah, I don't believe that. Not anymore."

"Oh?"

"You don't just hug someone and then push someone away from a literal cannon and say you don't feel anything. You may be hardcore but I know you got a soft spot~..." The panda arrogantly grinned before retreating back from the tiger's low growl. "Sorry—I'm still sticking to my point though! You're tough and strong sure but that doesn't mean you're... numb. Y'know?"

Tigress felt taken aback for a moment, rubbing her paws in nervousness and looking down timidly. A moment to Po felt like an eternity as he started to go more and more guilty for possibly striking a nerve. "I-I'm sorry... I know it's not any of my—"

"Actually..." She started, interrupting the ursine's thoughts as she rubbed her shoulders. "My shoulder blades and back have been aching a bit... might be because of heavy lifting we've been doing with rebuilding the city..."

Curious, Po reached over to feel up the shoulder Tigress was rubbing. His eyes widened at the feel. "Wow! You're, like, really tense! You sure it's just heavy lifting? Feeling this knot up usually comes from stress.."

"Not sure..." The feline curtly replied, not wanting to admit how she's been really feeling as of late just yet.

Suddenly, Po got an idea that made him flush. It was a stupid idea! A horrible idea. It could help, but there's a more likely chance for him to die because of this idea. It was a stupid, horrible, possibly helpful, totally death defying idea! He would have to be an idiot for asking.

And yet, despite his gut telling him otherwise, he does.

"Do you uh... ahem..." He cleared his throat awkwardly, "Want me to help... release that tension?"

"I beg your pardon?" Tigress quirked up her eyebrow at the sweating panda, sceptical of his advances.

"W-well... ah... usually to help ease tension... m-massages help..." Po managed to squeak out nervously. "So uh... if you want—"

"Are you suggesting giving me a massage, Dragon Warrior?"

Uh oh. She used his formal title. He's in trouble. He took a huge gulp and looked off into the side, hoping to find the quickest route to change the subject or, even better, find his escape. "I-I mean- I used to give some to my dad after a long day of work... I-I'm pretty good! Of course we don't have to do anything if you don't want to of course, i-it was probably a stupid idea any—"

"Okay."

"—way-wa-wait—what?" Po sputtered, his eyes as wide as saucers now from the unexpected reply.

"Okay. I've never let anyone give me a massage before... therefore I've never experienced the feeling of it before."

"I... and you trust me to give you your first ever massage?" He asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Should I not?" The feline asked cryptically, intimidating the panda a bit. She then slowly broke out into a small smile. "I'm kidding. But I do trust you. You've seen me in ways no one else in the Furious Five, the Jade Palace, or anyone in the Valley of Peace have. You've proven to me that I can trust you with my life. So I can trust you with a massage..."

"O-okay! Great!"

"Great."

"Wonderful!"

"Wonderful."

"A-awesome, heh heh..."

"Po?"

"Yeah?" The panda replied sheepishly.

"You're sweating."

"A-am I?" Po rubbed at his damp fur, fanning himself to ease his nerves. "M-must be hot in here, heh..."

Tigress looked down at her tail, "If you don't want to then—"

"N-NO!" He called out loudly, before quickly retreating after somewhat startling the tiger. "I mean..." He cleared his throat, "I-I wouldn't mind... it's just um... I've never given a massage to a..."

"A woman?" Tigress finished, further embarrassing the poor bear.

"Well... yeah. A-and a friend, too!"

"Right... a friend..." She muttered quietly in minor disappointment. She quickly shook the unjust thoughts from her head. "Well... then this will be a first for both of us." The tiger turned her back towards Po, tensing her shoulders in preparation. "So... work your magic, Dragon Warrior."

Po chuckled, noticing his feline companion's nervousness as he reached forward to gently grasp her blade. "You know, to help you relax, you gotta first feel relaxed yourself. No need to stiff up on me." He reassured. Tigress turned back to glance at him.

"It's okay... I got you."

With a small smile from her part as permission, she turns away and lets the panda start to work his paws, rubbing away at her striped back and shoulders gently. The feeling was odd and a little painful as Tigress winced and jerked with each rotation of his palms. "I thought massages were... mmf... supposed to be... hngh.. relaxing."

"Yeah, but you gotta work out the kinks first, which, if you haven't had massages before, will be painful."

"Figures..." She grumbled.

"Give it time, Ti. I promise this will help more than you think..."

Despite Tigress' complaints, she did still trust Po. She knew he wouldn't do this if it wasn't in her best interest or if she wasn't okay with it. So, putting her protests aside, she goes silent and let's Po do his work, rubbing and caressing at her muscly fur in an attempt to break down the tension in them.

"So..." The panda started, breaking another bead of sweat in an attempt to start up a conversation. "Why uh... why were you up?"

Tigress jolted a bit from the sudden question. Not because of the innocent subject or that it was unexpectedly brought up, but because she didn't know how to answer. Be honest and be perceived as weak? (She was in hot waters already) Or bluff? Eventually, she sighed and dismissed it.

"Just... couldn't sleep."

Po thought better than to push further than that. "Fair. You are a light sleeper. I wouldn't be surprised if me creaking the floor boards woke you up!"

The light-hearted response brought a small smile to the hardcore warrior's face. "Don't worry, I was awake before you came to me. Besides, I'm fully desensitised from your floor-board-creaking."

Po gasped in fake-offence, "Wow! No need to call me out for going off to the kitchen for a late night snack, Master Tigress."

"Didn't need to," The feline cheekily looked back at her ursine confidante, "You just did so yourself."

Now the panda started laughing mischievously. "Oh-ho-ho! Oh yeah? Well how about I just..." He decided to tease Tigress by jabbing playfully at her sides, making her unexpectedly burst out in a fit of chuckles, trying to shush both herself and Po from making too much noise before she elbowed him in the gut to warn him. "Ohh, did I just find Master Tigress' weakness~?"

"Cut it out before I make you my sparring partner for a month! Be lucky I trust you this much." She threatened with a growl, but they both knew by her smirk that it was in vain. Po went back to massaging her shoulders and upper back. "Ah please, we both know I'm your go-to partner anyway." He replied sassily.

Tigress simply shook her head. She knew he was right about that.

Another moment of silence went by, and the rubbing process seemed to ease up a lot more from when they first started. Or perhaps she just felt more at ease. She rubbed her dull knuckles to cope with her internal conflicts.

"So..." She parroted Po from before. "... What makes you awake at this hour, anyway?"

Po was slightly taken aback himself, but then simply fixated his eyes on his fingers for his own composure's sake. "Uh... couldn't sleep either."

"Po... please." Tigress glanced back at her friend. "The truth."

She felt like a huge hypocrite at that moment, but in all honesty, she just always put Po's well-being as her top priority. Always.

At last, the panda sighed. "well... I just... I kept thinking about Shen, y'know?"

The tiger's ears perked up at the opening subject. She stayed quiet and let the panda speak.

"This whole mission has just... been an emotional rick-shaw ride... I guess it's all just... hitting at once. Despite me finding inner peace..." He grinded his paws into fists and gently dug his knuckles into Tigress' back. Her breath hitched and her eyes widened before she quickly and discreetly put her paw over her mouth. Her cheeks were beat-red.

"I guess it still kinda hurts... dang bad dreams, heh."

She felt so pathetic at this moment. Here she was, deeply enjoying this poor panda's massage as he is opening up about something personal. The truth was, she had never felt someone touch her like this before (let alone at all), so feeling Po's paws feel up her fur like this made her more than just feel 'at ease'. She couldn't help letting a few whimpers escape her mouth as Po grew concerned.

"Ti? You okay? I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"N-No!" She exclaimed suddenly, before taking a deep breath to recollect herself. "It's just... I've been thinking too..." She momentarily bit her lower lip before she vigorously shook her head to refocus.

"I... had a bad dream too."

Po paused his rubbing, and Tigress started to immediately regret opening her mouth.

"You have?"

Hesitantly, she nodded. "Every night since..." She started scratching at her wrists. "You and Shen's cannon..."

The panda was able to put two and two together. "Since Shen hit me with his cannon?" Slowly, the tiger nodded again.

Po sighed. "I... I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

Tigress scoffed. "Well, to your credit, no one did, so..."

"Why didn't you tell any of us?" He asked gently, grasping the feline's shoulder. Not to massage it but to just grab her attention. She slowly looked back at the monochromatic bear.

"Why didn't you tell any of us about Shen's impact on you?"

The question struck him, but he knew she was validated to ask. He darted his eyes to the side solemnly. "Didn't wanna look weak, I guess..."

Tigress looked down with the same melancholy. "Me too..."

Another moment of silence went by, the awkwardness of it was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. The tiger master comfortably leaned back into the panda's belly, catching him off guard a little. "You're lucky, though..."

"What do you mean?"

"You're the only one I can let seeing me weak like this..." She titled her head up to look right at his shimmering jade eyes. "And you're the only one who's able to get me weak like this..."

The statement made Po's jaw slack and his cheeks briefly heat up as the feline sat back up straight. "Now, can you please continue the massage? I... kinda like it."

Quickly waking up from his stupor, the bear replied hastily. "I-I... right! Right, of course!" He continued to mumble in a flustered manner as his shaky paws started to rub at her shoulders and back yet again. Tigress simply hummed in satisfaction. The more he grasped and caress, the more pleased she sounded.

"I take it you're enjoying this?" He asked out of the blue, feeling more embarrassed and flushed by the second. The notion that his touch was giving his companion the pleasure and relaxation she needed made his heart thump in his ears. Tigress deliriously nodded with a sleepy smile stretched on her face. It's the biggest smile Po has ever seen on the striped warrior's face.

"Mmm~ When you said this would help more than I thought, I didn't expect it to help this much. Are massages usually this good or are your hands just magical~?" She asked honestly, causing Po to momentarily tremble as his face grew hot. "W-wow... A-and do you usually make these kinds of remarks to someone you're close to or are you just letting loose for the first time? Heh.." He joked to cope with his intense feelings.

"If you tell anyone about this, I will pummel you into your next life." The way she so casually stated it thanks to her calm demeanour caused Po to more comfortably laugh. "Can you move a bit lower? To the right a bit? Aaah~ right there~..." Tigress sighed happily as the panda simply smiled more. It may have gotten him flustered hearing the noises that arose from his friend but it just made him more happy knowing that she at least was.

But then suddenly...

CHUFF

Time seem to freeze entirely as both warriors had to take a physical moment to process what just happened. Po's wide eyes found Tigress' flushed face as he asked slowly, "... What was that?"

Tigress grumbled and hid her face in her claws. "That was... chuffing... it's a feline thing, apparently... w-when big felines are pleased, they make a sound that refers to purring but it's more... puffy and breathy..."

The bear started to come to his own realisations. "So... this is like... your way of purring!?" 'OH MY GOSH THAT'S SO ADORABLE!' He thought to himself, knowing if he said it out loud he would be her next breakfast.

"If you ever—"

"Relax!" Po interrupted. "I'm not gonna tell anyone... no judgement here." He assured, trying so hard not to squeal at the udder adorableness of it all.

The tiger huffed her flusteredness. "Thank you..."

"But I'll only keep my mouth shut if you do that chuffing thing with me only~..."

"WHA—" Baffled at the panda's claim, she elbows him in the gut again, which only causes him to giggle. "Okay, now you're just getting too comfortable, Dragon Warrior~"

"Oh yeah? You're one to talk!" Po retaliated, jabbing gently at the feline's sides as they both play-fought in each other's embrace, laughing carelessly for the first time in goodness knows how long.

Tigress sighed and laid back completely Po's belly, looking up at him from his shoulder with the biggest, most sincere smile. A smile that hasn't bared her face since her adolescent years. She honestly thought she would never have a reason to so much as grin again, but she knew with the panda warrior in her presence she just couldn't help it. His soft exterior, his light-hearted jokes, his welcoming paws, his big, selfless heart, his... beautiful jade eyes... his goofy smile and... alluring lips.

Neither feline or ursine could explain why or how, but the more their laughs settled, and the more they saw their own reflections in their glowing eyes, the more their smiles dropped and the closer they leaned into each other's lips... as if they were feeling an invisible yet powerful magnet pull them towards one another.

They stopped right before their muzzles touched, instead planting their foreheads together, breathing heavily as if their anticipating something... anything really, to either pull them together or pull them apart.

But nothing happened.

Po's arms fell to Tigress' torso in that time, and he squeezed ever so slightly closer. Tigress felt herself hold her breath at that such simple touch. They had every chance and every right to just forget the entire world and just focus on what was in front of them. They were stripped of their responsibilities, their worries, their walls, their vulnerable wounds at full front with one another, even if they couldn't physically see it on their fur. It was just the two of them. Nothing else mattered.

That was probably why Tigress wanted to kiss that damn panda so badly. The feeling of not needing to keep her guard up in front of someone and just trusting them with her body and life, for the first time in her entire life. Her heart that held the little hopeful, playful girl that just wanted someone to love her for her thumped against her chest, as if she was begging to let that little cub to finally take the lunge and receive that love at long last...

But then, something completed halted her entire being. Her brain, her logic, the thing that took the sidelines for far too long in Po's presence finally spoke up and that's when everything came crashing down.

'What if he turns me away? What if I let my guard down for too long and that just ends up making me lose him again? I mean look what happened after I hugged him? I got too close, too weak, and that can only lead to nothing but hurt...'

"Tigress?"

She was broken out of her trance from the voice of concern Po held, and when she met his eyes they didn't hold that same captivation and anticipation, instead holding a gentle look of worry.

'We can trust him with our life, but we can never, ever, trust anyone with our heart...'

The feline gulped down her feelings and looked down, begrudgingly pushing her body away from his arms. "Uh... thank you... for the massage and for... accompanying me tonight. But it's probably best if you go sleep. We have another day of hardwork ahead of us."

There was so many things Po wanted to ask at that moment, but sensing that his friend was uncomfortable, he retracted, looking down a bit disappointingly.

"Oh..." He mumbled, rising up from the ground and dusting off his shorts. "Okay then..." He walked to the doorway to Tigress' room, part of him hoping she would call out to him to stay. When she didn't, Po lost all hope on how this night could turn around. He glanced back and smiled sadly.

"Good night, Tigress."

Oh how she loathed how the sound of the panda saying her name made her fragile heart flutter. She grasped at her chest and didn't even bother to look up at her companion.

"Good night, Dragon Warrior."

Po's smile faltered as he humbly bowed his head and walked off into the hall, vanishing from the tiger's sight. Despite her reasoning winning her internal battle, she still couldn't help but reach out towards him.

She quickly gave that up though as she slumped against her bed frame and hugged her knees close to her aching chest, a coping mechanism she used to do as a child. Her tail dragged across her feet. She felt her wrapped up shoulder and felt content at how truly lighter it felt thanks to Po's massage but also grew bitter at the absence of Po's touch as well. Not that she didn't have anyone else to blame but herself, though.

She squinted the tears attempting to brim in her eyes. 'It's better this way...' She tried to convince herself. 'Weakness only leads to trouble. We can't trust anyone with our heart, not even him.'

She longingly looked into the lantern, as if the flames it elicited would provide her answers to her inner conflict.

'We can never trust anyone with our heart... right?'

~THE END~

~~a/n; was Tigress a little ooc in this? possibly. do I care? not really. why? bc I wanted cute TiPo and that's not a crime UmU LOL
hope whoever's reading this has a great day/night! live, laugh, love, and until next time... Yarart out! ;D~~