Do You Like Me?
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Po's laugh echoed in the Hall of Heroes.
"It's not funny!" Monkey exclaimed.
"Oh you have no right to be upset with me, buddy," Po chortled. "After your jokes about me, you deserve every single laugh from my mouth."
"He's not wrong," Mantis muttered from the simian's shoulder. Monkey simmered quietly.
"HAHAHAHAHahahaha, but best of all, in the middle of the whole thing, Crane over here gets a girlfriend. HA!"
"She's not my girlfriend," Crane argued.
"So what exactly did you do when you... escorted Min back home?" Tigress asked, crossing her arms.
"I... we talked," Crane cleared his throat. Po sniggered before bursting out into laughter. "Yeah, yeah laugh it up. I know I'm an idiot for letting the tiger get away."
"No, no no that's not why I'm laughing," Po chuckled. "I'm actually surprised! You held your ground against Momoda and manage to get a date in the middle of a fight? Dude that's awesome! Much better than Monkey."
"I get it. Karma. Geez," Monkey grumbled.
Shifu rubbed his head with the hand that wasn't in a sling. "Master Crane, though I'm glad that you managed to take on Momoda, you shouldn't have gotten distracted by her."
"I wasn't!"
"Yeah, he was more distracted by Min," Po sniggered. "Way to go, though. I would've been stumbling."
"That's not surprising," Tigress smirked.
"Hey."
"What about the men that she was... using as a throne?" Viper asked.
Crane rubbed the back of his head, "Oh, yeah. Turns out most of those guys were bandits, but some of them were... 'Innocent'."
"Why do you say it like that?"
"Well, the tavern keeper nearby said that they were causing a ruckus and annoying the people around, so... Momoda took care of things when they started to annoy her," Crane answered Shifu.
"And you figured this out before or after you visited Ms. Min's house?"
"... After?" Crane grinned sheepishly. Shifu groaned and facepalmed himself. "But I did make sure that they were alright before sending them off to jail."
Shifu sighed, "Still, you shouldn't have gotten distracted at all."
"What was I supposed to do?" Crane said. "I literally crashed into that situation."
"Fighting a criminal is not the time to start a relationship."
"Oh come on, Tigress," Crane exclaimed. "Po has reformed multiple women who were criminals, and he gets a pass?"
"Hey, hey, hey, I was doing really good before this argument, so keep me out of it, okay?" Po said.
"Anyway," Crane sighed, "I had to fight her alone when she took down Monkey in one blow."
"Hey, no need to say all that."
"Enough," Shifu groaned with a sigh. "It's obvious to me that we have to increase security to catch this Momoda. By the end of the month, she needs to be captured. Understand?"
"Yes Master Shifu."
"Good, you are dismissed." The red panda sighed, grunting as he rubbed his injured arm. "This Momoda is a problem."
"Are you sure about that, Master Shifu?" Po asked as the others left the Hall of Heroes.
"Po."
"I'm not saying this because of my feelings. I'm just... I have a good feeling about this tiger." The red panda stared at him. "Okay, I understand that's literally a feeling, but it is a good feeling."
"I'm sure it is."
"Hey, I see those eyes rolling, Shifu."
"Po, the tiger must be captured. Soon."
"And then what?"
"I... honestly I don't know," Shifu confessed. Other than unorthodox vigilantism, there was nothing to really pin on the tiger. "But what she's doing is still making a mess of things."
"Or making them better," Po countered, "I haven't seen Crane this confident in a while."
"Two wrongs don't make a right Po."
"Still, something to consider."
Shifu looked at the giant panda. The steadiness of his jade eyes held a peace that Shifu knew very well. The master sighed. Po's sincerity always eased and worried him. The last time it happened the grandmaster had a lot to learn about his style of training. Shifu shut his eyes. He really hoped that his motives weren't wrong this time, but Po's gut had grown to shake his confidence. "I will... consider it."
Po smiled and bowed. As the day stretched on, the giant panda walked down the steps and over to the Training Hall where a loud thump echoed from the structure. "What the-" Po hurried in and found a familiar tiger training to her heart's content. Tigress grunted as she pushed massive weights placed on her back. Suddenly, she jumped out from the weights, letting them crash to the ground, and struck the dummy warrior in front, knocking it into pieces with her foot. "Whoa! Geez, Tigress."
"Po!" Tigress panted and straightened up. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard a loud noise and thought something was wrong." Po looked at the poor dummy. One of its limbs hung by a single timber before collapsing to the ground. "I see you're using Master Frog's jump technique."
"It's... it's good for catching people off guard when they think they have the high ground."
"Uh... huh. Tigress, why are you training so hard?" Po asked. "I mean... harder than normal."
"We're scheduled to patrol tonight. I won't let this Momoda get the best of me," Tigress said, squeezing her hand.
"Right," Po shook his head. There was no changing Master Tigress. "Well, one thing's for sure. You can't say it's just me," he smiled.
Tigress rose her eyebrow and smirked as she crossed her arms. "No, but the idea that you like her is still on the table. Why else defend her so much?"
"I... I don't like her like that," Po said, rubbing the back of his head. "It's just... I don't know... I really don't know." His smile slowly twisted into a frown. His eyes stared at the wooden floorboards, sighing as he muttered, "I don't know."
Tigress's head tilted. "Po, are you okay?"
"Huh? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," He said. Tigress focused on the panda's face. His charming smile couldn't reveal his emotion. He was hiding something but what was it? "I think I'm gonna head to my dad's shop. See if he's alright."
"Po, are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, Tigress," Po said firmly. Tigress's head jerked back a bit. Po never talked like this. Quietly staring, she slowly nodded and watched the panda leave.
Several nights went by and the mysterious Momoda was nowhere to be seen. Master Shifu's grumbling became a stable music of the Jade Palace whenever he looked at crime rates in the worst parts of the village. "Crime is going down," Shifu simply said. He never said any more about the topic, but everyone knew why.
Momoda was bringing the crime down just as Po had said.
Meanwhile, Po's attitude hadn't changed since his talk with Tigress. Though the others tried their best to cheer him up, they couldn't figure out why he was upset in the first place. "Po, if I said something to offend you, I-"
"No, no, you didn't," Po said sincerely. "I'm fine. Really. It's just... something that's bothering me."
"What?" Tigress asked.
"I... I don't want to talk about it. I'll be fine."
And the conversation would often end just like that. Then one night, Tigress and Po were on patrol. Again, Po found himself alone, scouring the night streets for Momoda. But his eyes were on the ground as he walked. His shoulders sagged, and his frown only grew as the night wore on. The soft crickets chirped in the valley's grassy inclines, but the warmth of the night didn't bring a smile to the panda's lips. He marched on, ignoring the stony path going to dirt as he entered the southern end of the village. His mind buzzed again and again, and he shook his head enough times to grow a crick in his neck. But the pitch blackness swallowing the joy of his mind clung to his head and face. Po sighed, "This is dumb. Why do I even care?"
He was so focused on his misery that he didn't notice someone in front of him. Suddenly, a gentle hand on his chin guided his gaze upward and he stopped mere inches from a pair of vibrant red eyes shining in the night. "Why the long face, honey?"
"WHAA!" Po jumped back. "It's you!" Po readied himself for a fight, but the tiger didn't put up one.
Momoda placed her hands on her hips and looked at him. Her furrowed eyebrows and frowning lips told Po she was upset. But why? "What are you doing here?"
"Standing."
"I'm not in the mood for games, Momoda."
"I'm not playing them... tonight anyway."
Po narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?"
"What's bothering you?" Momoda asked.
"Why should I tell you?"
"I won't tell anyone."
"And why should I believe you."
"Because no one will believe me."
"What if you use it against me?"
Momoda tilted her head. "I thought suspicion was the kitten's thing."
"Maybe it's mine too," Po muttered.
Momoda shrugged, "I guess that's a risk you'll have to take."
He looked at her, glancing up and down her body. He knew looking at her wasn't going to provide any answers. She smiled, though. Gently, almost like a mother would with their kid. Po sighed, "The heck with it. Why are you flirting with me?"
Her smile changed to a smirk. "What makes you think I am?"
"You kissed me."
"I do that with all the people I like."
"Really?!"
"No," Momoda smirked, "But it was nice to see the look on your face when I said that. Why? Does it bother you?"
"The flirting?...No."
"Hmmm, word on the street says different," She grinned, slowly getting closer to the panda.
"What does the street say?"
"That I'm distracting you."
"Kinda," Po slowly backed away from her.
"That doesn't explain why you ask."
"It's just... no one has ever flirted with me before. Unless they're a criminal or trying to get something from me," Po confessed, making Momoda frown. "I don't know if you're a criminal or trying to get something from me. So why are you flirting with me?"
"Maybe I just like you."
"Why?"
Momoda sighed longingly but smiled. "I don't know. I really don't know."
"Because there isn't a reason?"
"No... I just have too many," She smirked.
"Maybe I can help you decide." Suddenly, another striped figure leaped from a nearby roof and tackled Momoda to the ground.
"Tigress!" Po exclaimed. Tigress held Momoda down, but the shorter tiger rolled Tigress onto her back and jumped off.
"Well, well, if it isn't Master Shifu's lackey."
"You're going to pay for what you did to Master Shifu," Tigress snarled.
"Oh, like you didn't want to do it," Momoda smirked. Growling viciously, Tigress launched at Momoda. Momoda blocked the tiger's hands and swept the ground. Tigress backflipped and ducked her kick. Their hands went into a flurry of blocking and punching before Tigress kicked Momoda back. "Rugh, didn't know I could feel that."
Tigress ran up, grabbed Momoda's shoulders, and threw her down to the ground. Momoda rolled out up to a handstand, whirling her legs around. She kicked Tigress across the face. Momoda jumped to her feet and punched Tigress back. The Kung Fu warrior caught Momoda's fist in time and jabbed her gut, forcing her back. Momoda panted hard and shut one eye, wincing.
Suddenly, Tigress held her stomach and grimaced. Both Momoda's and Po's eyes widened. "Tigress, are you okay?"
"Stay out of this, Po. I've got this," Tigress grunted, holding her arms in attack formation. Po suddenly noticed she had her claws extended. Tigress lept at Momoda, fell into a roll, and kicked the tiger right in the chest. Momoda stumbled back but blocked. The Kung Fu tiger leaped into the air. She drove her foot down from above, but Momoda quickly grabbed Tigress's foot and tossed her into the wall. Tigress rebounded and tackled her to the ground. "Got you!"
"Do you?" Momoda grinned. She pulled something from her pocket and threw it to the ground. A pillar of smoke fogged up the street. Po coughed and waved his hand. The smoke was too thick.
"Tigress? Tigress!"
"Ack Ack!" Tigress's cough came to his ears. As the smoke cleared, Po found Tigress in the same position, but Momoda was gone. "What?! How did she?"
"I'm starting to think we're dealing with something that's more like a ghost," Po gulped. Tigress grumbled. She started to stand but nearly collapsed. "Tigress!" Po quickly caught her. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, yes, I'm... I'm okay," She said weakly. "She's... a lot stronger than I thought."
"You did great! All that training must be paying off."
"Yeah," Tigress grimaced, gripping her stomach. "Argh."
"Come on, you have to get back to the Jade Palace," Po said firmly.
"I'll be fine," She said, trying to stand up by herself. She took another tumble. Po instantly scooped up her in his arms. "Wha! Po!"
"Please don't be mad," Po whimpered a bit, "But we've got to make sure you're okay."
"I'm fine."
"Tigress, you're not," Po said seriously. "Don't worry, I won't tell the others, okay?" Po smiled bravely.
Gasping and panting, Tigress finally surrendered, "Th-thank you, Po." The panda smiled and carried her up the mountain to the Jade Palace.
But the burning questions in his brain still lingered. Who exactly was Momoda and what was she doing here? And why did she care so much about Po? And...
Did she... really like him?
Po shook his head. "Po, are you okay?" Tigress asked weakly as they got to the Jade Palace.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I'll be fine." He said hopefully.
Continued...
