Marriage

"You mean you have not looked into it yet," Master Shifu asked Po. The panda shook his head. "Why don't you go to your room and look inside it now?"

"But you told me not to open it until I was ready," Po said.

"I think a whole year is ready. Plus, you two have been together for much longer than that. You'll be committed to each other when the passion ends," Shifu replied, leaving Po to himself. Po went to his room to look inside of the box. When he opened it, he immediately closed it back and blushed. He paced around the room. Was his really ready for something as big as that? Po decided to sleep on it. It was getting late anyways.

Suddenly, as Po was resting, he got up. He went to the kitchen to get some food where a certain big lion was leaning on the table. Po passed him and went to the cabinet, giving a short greeting. "Hey, Gong-Go," Po said. It slowly dawned on Po that something was off. "Wait a minute," He said coming out of the cabinet. "Something's not right," Po said. "These curtains have never been here." Gong-Go just facepalmed himself.

"Hey, Po! A dead guy standing here," Gong-GO announced.

"AHH! Gong-Go! Wh-what are you doing here?" Po said shocked.

"Don't worry, you're just having a dream, but I have to talk to you," Gong-Go said sitting down.

"So, this isn't really dumpling?" Po asked. Gong-Go shook his head as the dumpling disappeared. "Aw."

"Po, we need to talk about you and Tigress," Gong-Go said. Po nervously sat down.

"Why would you want to talk about that?" Po asked.

"Because it's the only way that you're going to make the prophecy come true," Gong-Go said.

"What prophecy?"

"The one where Maz marries Lillia?"

"But I can't marry Tigress. What if I mess up?"

"You always do, I'm sure she's gotten used to it."

"What if she says no?"

"She would have said no to you a long time ago," Gong-Go replied.

"HEY!"

"What are you really afraid of Po?" Gong-Go asked. Po was silent.

"I'm... I'm afraid of her losing interest in me. I'm just a panda. She's so amazing and I'm just... me," Po sighed.

"And that's why she loves you. You are you. Yes, you will make some mistakes, but no one's perfect. But you have to marry her if you hope to let Maz and Lillia marry. I'm not saying you should do it because of them, but Tigress loves you," Gong-Go said.

"You think so?"

"I know so," Gong-Go smiled. Po breathed a sigh of relief.

"I wish you were here to see all of this," Po said.

"I wish I were here too," Gong-Go replied disappearing.

Po suddenly woke up and it was morning. He looked out the window to see it was just sunrise. Po sighed as he rested back down on his mat. "Are we awake?" Tigress asked looking overhead of him. Po smiled at the cheeky tiger's grin.

"I guess," Po sighed. Tigress seemed worried.

"What's wrong?" Tigress asked. Po got up, grabbed the box, and told Tigress to come with him to the Peach Tree. Once they were there, Tigress was more than curious and worried about Po. "Po, what's wrong?"

"Tigress," Po paused for a moment. "Do you love me?"

"Of course," Tigress said.

"And I love you as well," Po replied. "Maybe I should just come out with it."

"What is it, Po?" Tigress asked, now extremely worried. Po opened the box and presented it to Tigress. She gasped at the sight as Po bowed on his knee.

"Will you marry me?" Po asked. He hoped that if she said no she wouldn't kill him. But Tigress had the opposite reaction.

"Yes," Tigress said.

"Really?"

"Yes, I'll marry you," Tigress said smiling widely. She pounced on Po and kissed him. Inside the box was the most beautiful ring Tigress had ever seen. "You do know that we have a lot to do, right?"

"I know, but it all go so quickly when the day comes," Po replied. Tigress purred sweetly as she laid her head on top of his chest. "I thought you didn't like mushy stuff."

"This is an exception."

Man! Was Po right! It only took five days for the wedding to commence. Po nervously stood at the altar of the stage. The whole village seemed to be there. Everything was happening so fast. He could see Lillia's smirk from the stage. She always teased him on how nervous he could be. Right next to her was an excited Leona. Maz was next to Leona. As Tigress walked down the aisle, Monkey, who was Po's best man, nudged him. "You'll be fine." Po breathed. He took Tigress's hand and they both faced Master Shifu as he read the formalities. While that was happening, Po and Tigress whispered to each other.

"Have your hands always been this sweaty?" Tigress asked.

"You mean you're not nervous?" Po asked.

"Yes and no," Tigress whispered back. "I'm not worried that I made the wrong decision or anything, nor am I worried if we went through this too fast. If anything it was too slow," Tigress replied smirking at him. Po sighed.

"I'm sorry. I was just nervous."

"I know, I am too. I'm just nervous about messing up or something after this." Tigress said. Po smiled.

"I was worried about the same thing," He whispered. "Let's vow that no matter what happens, no matter how large the argument, we always work through it."

"I agree," Tigress said. Shifu was still going through the formalities.

"There is something I didn't get the time to ask you about," Po said.

"What's that?"

"Kids, were you serious about Leona? You said that Maz sees her as a sister so that would mean we would step in as father and mother."

"It does take a village to raise a child, Po," Tigress whispered.

"I know, but with us, what about our own children?" Po asked. Tigress thought about it and smirked at him.

"It doesn't mean we can't have fun trying." Po immediately reddened.

"You're going to be the death of me, Tigress," Po muttered. Tigress smiled.

"What about Lillia and Maz?"

"Eh, they'll get married. Right now, I'm worried about us," Po said still sweating.

"Don't be," Tigress whispered. "You know you still haven't taught me anything about pandas," Po smiled.

"You'll figure it out," Po smirked. Tigress only pouted. Finally, Shifu came to the last part.

"I do," Po replied.

"I pronounce you man and wife," Shifu smiled, "You may now kiss the bride." Po and Tigress kissed and everyone cheered.

Soon the reception was over and Po and Tigress went to their new house that the Furious Five and the villagers helped build. At the reception, Po could hear a lot of people saying, "About time." Or "I couldn't handle it anymore if they took another year." A lot of people in the village wanted them to make their relationship official. Tigress plopped down on the bed exhausted. Po sat down beside her. "Long day," Po smiled.

"Oh my goodness," Tigress breathed. "I didn't think your father's jokes would take that long."

"I didn't think Master Shifu would say that much about what you use to do in the palace," Po smiled at Tigress's embarrassed look. "Did you really chase the duck servants around and pounce on them."

"I was a child. I liked stalking," Tigress said defensively as she sat up.

"And did you really dress up like the Dragon Warrior and stage scenes around your room?" Po asked with a smirk.

"I was a child."

"Shifu said you were 17 at the time," Po replied.

"That's still considered a child," Tigress said. Po smiled.

"Well, it's good to know we have good parents," Po replied. Tigress sighed.

"Yeah," She quietly said. Po wrapped his arms around Tigress's waist and hugged her. She smiled. His hugs always made her feel better. Po pulled away to see her face. Her smile suddenly became mischievous.

"Tigress, I know that face. I don't trust that face," Po said. Tigress gently pushed Po on to his back.

"In your studies, did you ever study about tigers'... intimacy?" Po's face reddened. "You did?"

"You sound as if you expected me to say no," Po said. Tigress smirked.

"Oh, so our Po isn't as clueless and innocent as we thought," Tigress deviously smiled.

"I just did studies. I never... you know."

"Mind showing me what your studies revealed?" Tigress seductively asked. Po gulped causing Tigress to laugh. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Po replied, kissing her.

Continued...