In… out… in… out… in… out… in… out…

That was all Po thought as he silently pulled at the thread that had been stitched into Tigress's vest, pulling the last of the tears closed. He snapped the thread from the needle, knotted it, and held up the vest for examination. The stitching was crudely done, and inconsistent. The color of the thread also didn't match the red, black and gold colors of the fabric. Po sighed heavily and set the vest down.

It wasn't as if Tigress was going to wear it again, anyway.

Po got up from the cold stone floor and made his way over to the small pile of firewood sitting next to the wall. It wasn't exactly wood: Po had collected the twisting little branches that covered the entire city of Shambhala and pulled off all the leaves and flowers. They still burned pretty well, though, as the campfire in the middle of the room clearly demonstrated.

If only Tigress could appreciate it.

Po picked up a few bits of branch, tossed them into the fire and stepped out the cave and onto the wide ledge outside.

It was late evening. The storm had passed a few hours ago, and the sky was now clear and full of stars. The air even felt a little less cold.

Po walked right to the edge and sat down, letting his legs dangle down over the side. It was a beautiful night, and he could clearly see the fortress far below. The building seemed very quiet now. By now, everyone would either be asleep or silently keeping guard. He wondered how Shifu and the others were doing. He wondered where Monkey, Viper, Crane and Mantis were now. He wondered if any of them were still alive. He decided that such thoughts would wait and decided to explore the city for more supplies.

It had been nearly three days since the battle with the Yeti and then Po took shelter in the cave that served as the back entrance to the city, and it wasn't until a little whole ago that Po decided to find something to do so he wouldn't spend too much time alone with nothing but his thoughts. The first thing he'd done was carve a pair of little figures, a rabbit and a pig, from the branches to have mock kung fu battles with. Then he decided to wash as much blood from Tigress's vest as he could and then repair it. Now he was opening the secret back door to the lost city.

Three times now he had ventured into the city in search of supplies. On his first visit he'd carefully tiptoed through the streets to check for signs of the Yeti, but it hadn't returned. Po hadn't seen it since the battle. But what he had discovered on his second visit was a series of overgrown but still beautiful gardens filled with not flowers, but the most delicious looking vegetables and fruit he had ever seen. What was truly amazing was that the gardens seemed to serve not just as food storage, but some sort of analysis area. By that, he meant that each garden seemed to house fruit from a different area of the world, and in each garden was a hut that housed scrolls that were full of observations about the different kinds of food. After this discovery, Po had become more and more convinced that the city and the fortress were connected; both appeared to have once been inhabited by the kind of people who study and observe more than anything else. Po had come across those kinds of people before; stuffy and eccentric folks who were obsessed with a relatively new enterprise that differed greatly from the likes of fireworks, kung fu or noodles: science.

Anyway, the gardens had been a lucky find: now Po could worry less about starvation and more about freezing to death.

Speaking of freezing to death…

Po was still wearing his winter coat, but before going through the stone trapdoor he grabbed a blanket and tied it round his neck as a cloak. He then made his way down the slope and headed through the corridor.

When he reached the other side, he took a moment to once again take in the wondrous view that was the city of Shambhala. In times like this, Po would normally freak out as he always did, but recent events had dampened his mood.

The gardens were located in the far east of the city, and it took Po roughly half an hour to get there over the plant-covered rooftops. He avoided the western area where the foundry was located. There was nothing of use there, and the foundry reminded him of the molten lead that had burned Tigress's coat, forcing her to remove it and give herself hypothermia.

Po pushed those thoughts aside as he entered the garden that held the Chinese produce he was familiar with. Thinking about what had happened to Tigress would not bring her back.

Po grabbed some radishes, carrots, ginger and other vegetables that were normally used in noodle soup, stuffed them beneath his coat because no-one else was going to eat them anyway, and left.

With his new cargo partly weighing him down, Po did not take the rooftops on the way back, instead making his way through the streets and bridges that made up the city. As he crossed the penultimate bridge before the staircase that would take him back to the back entrance, Po took a moment to glance at the central building.

He had not stepped back into that place once since he and Tigress had decided to explore it, yet the memories of the dark room with the single bloody bed still haunted him. He thought of the masked woman in the giant painting, and wondered what the phantom that haunted the fortress's secret tomb was up to now.

Po turned away and continued along the bridge.

Once he was back in the corridor, he untied the makeshift cloak, rolled it up and tossed it up through the trapdoor. He leapt after it, and after a few wall jumps he was back in the cave.

Po returned to the campfire and set down the vegetables. He soon realized that he had brought too many. Only one person was going to be eating tonight.

Oh well, it was just soup. He would just save some for later.

Po got out his knife and began chopping up the vegetables, tossing the slices into the salvaged pot that hung over the fire.

He looked over at the feline lying motionless on the bed-mat.

Keeping Tigress alive during the storm had turned out to be a lot easier than he thought it would. The morning after Po had pulled Tigress into the little gap beneath the rock and treated her as best as he could, he had wrapped Tigress in his coat and made the long journey back up to the cave, carrying her over his shoulder like a sack. Though the weather at that time had still been horrible and freezing as hell, Po had taken his time, not wanting to risk pulling at Tigress's stitches; he had battled with the massive bleeding from Tigress's wounds twice the night before, and he hadn't exactly been looking forward to round three.

Once he had reached the cave, his first thought had been to open the trapdoor and take Tigress into the city where they could hide in case the Yeti returned. But then Po had thought of her condition, and realized that if he took her down the steep slope below the trapdoor, he may never be able to get her back up again. So he'd wrapped Tigress up with his dragon warrior shirt as well and his coat, tucked her into one of the little alcoves in the far wall, and made his way into the city himself.

He hadn't lingered in Shambhala long. After exploring several of the closest buildings, he'd successfully gathered several blankets, a metal pot to carry his supplies in, a bowl and ladle, and some branches for firewood. He'd also made a very lucky find in the second building he'd entered: a box full of bandages that he'd taken care to dip in boiling water before wrapping around Tigress's body.

He had then returned, used the blankets and wrapped Tigress up until she looked like a swaddled baby, and lit a fire.

On his second visit he'd found the gardens and collected as much produce as he could carry. He'd then hung the pot over the fire and made some soup. After having a bowl, he'd refilled and brought the bowl to Tigress's mouth. He'd given up after she made no sign of movement.

He'd then sat down beside her, bowl in hand, and thought about what to do next. Should he risk keeping her here in the cave, where she would probably be in danger if the Yeti returned? Or should he take her into the city, where it would be more difficult for their friends to find them?

But then he had remembered the storm and realized that for the moment, it didn't matter. No-one would be able to reach them in this weather.

So he'd decided to call it a day. He'd taken Tigress from the alcove and laid her on the floor. Then he'd wrapped himself up in an extra blanket, laid down beside her, and waited for the storm to end.

The next day had been vague at best. Po remembered eating the rest of the vegetables and finishing off the soup. Then he'd fought off the embarrassment long enough to change Tigress's bandages. Then he'd visited the city a third time and restocked on produce. Then after sitting near the mouth of the cave, waiting for either the storm to end or Tigress to wake up until night fell and he was a little more careful about how many vegetables he used in cooking.

Today, with the exception of a visit to the city, was no different.

Po finished cooking the soup and dipped a bowl into the pot. The soup smelled stronger and better than yesterday. Though he had visited the city three times he couldn't find a spoon for some weird reason, so he had to lift the bowl to his mouth.

His arms froze.

Was it his imagination, or did he just hear someone exhaling very softly behind him?

Po lowered the bowl and turned his head.

His heart leapt.

Tigress had opened her eyes.

When Tigress opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was orange.

Then her vision became less blurry, and she realized that she was staring at a stone ceiling illuminated in a warm orange glow.

She was in a cave. How she ended up here she didn't know.

Tigress heard a small splash coming from somewhere to her left. She tried to turn her head, but found that her neck was stiff, and her head was covered in a thick warm fabric, a blanket perhaps.

She tried to move the rest of her body. Not only did she experience massive pain in the left side of her torso, she found that she couldn't move her limbs. Something was holding them in place. She thought of ropes, and tried to struggle, despite her depleted strength. It wasn't rope. Someone had completely wrapped her up in blankets.

Tigress remembered how cold she had felt before passing out. Perhaps, someone had found her and Po and then-

Po.

The last time she had seen him he had been lying motionless in the snow after a brutal battle with the Yeti. Where was he? She couldn't see him. What if he-

Tigress tried to the struggle once more. The pain was so intense she tried to cry out, but all she could muster was a small release of breath.

"Tigress!"

Tigress's heard skipped a beat. That was Po's voice.

A moment later the panda himself was leaning over her, wearing a huge grin of relief. Tigress tried to smile in return, but her body wouldn't let her. Po was okay. He was alive. He didn't even look hurt!

"Tigress…" Po whispered. Tigress had never heard him speak so gently before, and she found it comforting. "You're finally awake."

Tigress tried and failed to speak. Then she registered a most wonderful smell.

"Here, have some of this." Po said. Tigress realized that he was holding a bowl to her mouth. "It's a little noodle soup."

He lifted her head slightly with his other paw, and patiently held the bowl as Tigress drank. The soup was the most delicious she had ever tasted, and she found that she could move her arms and legs again, though only a little due to the blankets covering her body. Once the bowl was empty Po set it and Tigress's head down.

"Feel a little better?" He asked hopefully, still bearing that relieved expression.

"Yeah." Tigress found that she could speak again, though weakly. "Po… thank god you're okay."

"Just a few cuts and bruises, nothing that can put the Dragon Warrior down." Po replied casually and with a bit of flair. That was the Po Tigress knew. She smiled slightly. "Wish I could say the same for you, though."

"How bad is it?" Tigress asked.

"You got clawed pretty badly, and you nearly bled out. Then you nearly froze to death and that was a total bummer." Tigress noticed that Po seemed to be blushing. "Anyway, we're back in the cave. How are you feeling?"

"Better, now that I had that soup. By the way, where were the noodles?"

"I couldn't find any noodles, so I made the noodle soup without them."

"Oh…" Tigress replied. "So it's just vegetable soup."

Po blushed harder.

"No! It's the exact same recipe we use in the noodle shop to make noodle soup, with the exception of noodles because I couldn't find any, and… okay, yeah it's vegetable soup." Po's shoulders slumped in defeat. Tigress laughed a little.

"How long was I out?" She asked.

"About three days." Po replied. "The storm ended a few hours ago."

Tigress's eyes widened.

"The storm is over?" She asked. Po nodded. "Then… that means we can return to the fortress."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Po exclaimed. "There is no way you're leaving this cave! You just got up, you're hurt pretty bad, you wouldn't last five minutes out there!"

Tigress's face heated up in anger.

"Po, we have to go back!" She tried to move again, but the blankets held firm. The confinement was beginning to irritate her. "We have to tell Shifu and the emperor what we have discovered!"

"But-"

"Get me out of this right now!"

"Tigress, please!" Po put his paws on her shoulders to stop her struggling. He was now looking a little angry himself, and more than a little scared. "Do you have any idea what I went through when I woke up and found you bleeding to death?! I had to take off your vest and stitch up your wounds myself with a very tiny needle! Have you ever seen four two-inch deep cuts the length of your arm up close? Not pleasant!"

Po's outburst ceased Tigress's struggles, and the two locked eyes. Tigress saw the fear and realized how unfair she was being.

Of course Po had been the one who kept her alive all this time. Who else had there been out there in that storm? And now that she thought about it, going out into a frozen wasteland with a terrible wound was a really cruddy way to repay him.

"Sorry, Po." She eventually said. "You're right, I wasn't thinking."

"It's okay." Po sighed and released her shoulders. "Don't worry, we'll head back to the fortress as soon as you're strong enough to walk."

"You don't think I'm strong enough now?" Tigress asked, a little miffed.

"Nope."

"Thanks a bunch. Well, thanks for taking care of me, and… wait, you took off my vest?"

Po broke eye contact and looked away. His cheeks were now redder than ever.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad." Tigress said with a little snigger. "Still, to make up for it, could you at least free my arms so I can feed myself from now on?"

"Oh, uh… sure."

Po had to unwrap the blankets covering Tigress's head and torso to free her arms. Her arms felt like lead as she stretched them out in front of her.

She suddenly recognized the black sleeves.

She looked down at her chest. The fabric was white and had a large golden dragon emblem.

She looked up at Po questioningly. He was still blushing, and now wasn't the only one.

"Oh, yeah." He said awkwardly. "You know, your vest doesn't have sleeves, and, you know, it was pretty torn up when I, you know, took it off and…"

Tigress cut off his babbling.

"Where's my vest?" She asked.

In answer he held up the stitched red vest. In comparison to the warm and very big shirt she was currently wearing, it looked filthy and thin.

"Ah." She said simply. "Well, thank you. So, if we're going to be staying here a while… could I have some more soup?"

Po picked up the bowl with a grin.

"Coming right up!"