Making Up For It
Po tossed the bandit over his head and bodyslammed right into the thieving pig. Tigress blocked an ox's hammer, launching her fist into his face. As the two warriors fought, the other Furious Five came to help. "Retreat!" shouted the bandit leader. The terrified gang scuttled into the safety of the forest.
"They're getting away!" Po shouted, but Tigress stopped him.
"It's okay, Po. No need to follow them. We know they'll be back soon," The tiger smirked. "And when they do, we'll be ready."
"Uh right! Right," Po grinned. "Well, I better get going."
"Really?" Crane asked. "Don't you want to hang out a bit at your father's place?"
"No, no, I'll just uh... go back to work. I'll see you guys soon." The panda ran off to the top of the mountain while the others glanced at each other before finally looking at Tigress.
"What?" She asked.
"It's just... Po hasn't been the same ever since Shifu's retired. He's been very busy, always anxious, and... well we were wondering if you knew why," Viper said. Tigress sighed.
"I don't know. I don't know." Po had been acting weirdly for two weeks. Constantly working on Jade Palace duties, daily practice, and he always somehow got to the bandits before the others did; Tigress was lucky this time because she was in the area. His fun-loving smile and personality were there, but he was scared. Everyone knew it, but they didn't know why.
There were two pieces of evidence that concerned them even more. One, Po didn't eat as much, which alarmed them to no end. Though their constant insistence on him eating more was patiently denied, they could see the lack of food started to get at him. Snappy moods, frustrated cooking, sleepless nights. Twice this week they had to stop him from nearly murdering some poor bandit because the panda was in a hunger-induced rage.
But the second part was more alarming. Po didn't stay around Tigress that much. They used to be inseparable, but after Shifu left, Po was more nervous around her than ever.
And it wasn't out of affection.
Several times, Tigress asked the others if Po had a crush on her, to which the others were clueless. They all figured that they could tell if Po had a crush on someone. They could still remember the time he fell head over heels for a female fighter that came to the village. Flowers, well-cooked meals, long walks, and talks together. Po went all out only to get his feelings rejected.
But this wasn't nervous affection. The Furious Five didn't know what it was. Tigress sighed as they walked over to Mr. Ping's place where the goose dusted the place clean. "AH! There are my favorite paying customers. What would you want?"
"Just the regular, Mr. Ping," Tigress smiled as they sat down, but her smile quickly vanished. All of them stared into the wooden table until Mr. Ping came back.
"Eh? What's wrong with you all? And where's Po?"
"He's... busy," Tigress sighed. "Mr. Ping, have you noticed Po acting... differently?"
The goose dusted his apron and then rubbed the bottom of his beak. "Not that I know of. Po's kinda hard to get sometimes. You just gotta learn as you go with him."
"But he hasn't eaten or-"
"WHAT?! And all of you are just sitting here doing nothing while my poor boy is up there alone?!"
"Mr. Ping, he's okay. We're just wondering why he's doing this," Tigress soothed. The goose quivered but slowly nodded. "Po's physically fine, but... something's going on and we can't figure out what. Do you have any idea at all why he's acting this way?"
"None! What else is he doing?" The group told him. Mr. Ping cocked his head sideways and rubbed his beak again. He slowly said, "He's... only ever done this about three times... when he was trying to make up for something." The warriors looked at each other quizzically.
"Well, who is he trying to make up to?" Viper asked. Everyone's eyes immediately went to Tigress. Her eyes widened. She took a deep breath, stood up, and started walking out. "Where are you going?"
"To help Po." And her words were final. She walked up the palace steps and saw a tuckered-out panda precariously leaning on a training dummy. "Po?"
"WHAAH What where whoo? Oh! Hey, Tigress. Sorry, I uh... I'll get back to work," the panda yawned, "Must have... accidentally fallen asleep while training."
"I think you could do with some rest," Tigress smiled and motioned him to follow her. Strolling down the first steps of the Training Hall, they sat down under the cool twilight sky. Po's foot bounced upon the ground like a jumping bean hiked on coffee. "Po, what's wrong?"
"Huh? Nothing, nothing. What... what makes you think something's wrong?" Po asked.
"You haven't been eating much."
"I was... trying to lose weight."
"Really?" Tigress rose her eyebrow. "Why?"
"Uh... to be lighter?" His shaky grin only confirmed her worries.
"Okay. You avoid me like the plague."
"That's not true!" He exclaimed. "I'm just... very busy that's all. Plus, I know you like your alone time. Anyway, why are you so worried about me?"
"Because we're all worried about you," Tigress finally said. Po pursed his lips shut. An anxious silence moved over them. "Po, your dad says that you're... trying to make up for something. What is it?"
"How did you-"
"When we told him what was happening, he said the only time you've done this is when you've wanted to make it up to someone. So who are you trying to please, Po?"
Po had no words. He just blinked several times. He had been caught red-handed in his charades and now he had to confess. The panda stood up and gazed at the twinkling stars overhead. He shoved his hands into his pockets and sagged his shoulders. Tigress stood up too, resting a hand on his shoulder. Her warm reassuring smile met him, but he wasn't smiling.
Not even a little.
"I'm... I'm trying to make up for... taking the Dragon Warrior title... from you," He confessed.
That wasn't the answer Tigress, or anyone, was expecting. The tiger shook her head and asked, "I'm sorry, what?"
"I'm trying to make up for taking the Dargon Warrior Title from you," Po sighed. "Ever since I came here, I... I felt guilty about taking it from you with my stupid... stupidness. I thought that since Shifu was here, you wouldn't be mad at me or anything. But when he left, I just... I thought you would start hating me again." The weight of the world looked like it was resting on Po's shoulders. And he didn't want to move it. Didn't he deserve it? Tigress couldn't even grab her jaw from the ground. "And so... yeah. That's why I'm acting like this. I'm... trying to show you that I can... take the job as seriously as you want me to."
Po awkwardly leaned from one foot to the next, waiting for her answer. Tigress could only stare at him. Each passing moment only egged on Po's anxiety. It wasn't long before Po said, "Look, I know I can never give you the title back, but if I could I would and I-"
WACK!
"OOWW!" Po cried as the tiger smacked the back of his head. "What was that for?"
"For being... unwise."
"Huh?"
"Po, how long have you been Dragon Warrior?"
"Uh... I don't know, maybe three or five years."
"IF I was still upset after all these years, would you be as close to me as you are now?"
"Well... no."
Tigress's frown suddenly switched into a warm smile. "Po, I've already gotten past the hurt I felt when you came. I know now that I could never handle the responsibility of being Dragon Warrior," She frowned just a bit, "especially with my own upbringing." Before Po could ask, she said, "It was never your fault. You were made for the Dragon Warrior title, and you've repeatedly proven time and time again that you can handle this."
"Yeah, but-"
"No, no buts," Tigress said sternly; her fiery yellow eyes burned into Po's. "Were you chosen to be Dragon Warrior, yes or no?"
"Y-Yes?"
"And have you become the Dragon Warrior everyone needed you to be while still being you?"
"Yes."
"Then I think you're more worthy than me to have the title. So move past the past."
Po slowly grinned from ear to ear. "Thank you," He sighed and took a formal bow, "Master Tigress."
"Let's get you something to eat. Your dad is worried about you."
"Yeah, I guess. Sorry about... everything," Po sighed. "I was really worried."
"It's okay," Tigress smiled. "For a while, we thought you were avoiding me because you were infatuated with me."
"Infatu-"
"We thought you had a crush on me."
"O-on you? Oh ho, no, no, no." Po laughed.
Tigress didn't. "Why not?"
Po stopped in his tracks. "Because... you don't see me like that."
"That doesn't explain your reaction. Are you saying you would never have a crush on me?"
"I wouldn't say never, but..." The panda looked as lost as a fish in the desert. He desperately looked around for something else to talk about, but with them at the middle of the ten thousand steps, there was nothing he could use. "Uhh..."
"But?" Tigress rose her eyebrow.
"I... think I'm gonna go see my dad, bye!" Po raced down the mountain as fast as he could. The tiger chased him, shouting,
"Po get back here!"
"I don't think that's a good idea!"
Though the panda couldn't escape from Tigress for long, they were both glad that things were back to normal. Over time, Po returned back to his normal goofy self, much to everyone's relief. Tigress still gets annoyed with Po laughing at the idea of him having a crush on her. "I said I was sorry!"
"Hmph," Tigress would grunt.
"Don't you think you should get over this now that we're dating?" Po grumbled.
The striped cat's frown would always split into a grin. "Nope." Po would sigh.
He had a lot to do before he could make up for that blunder.
The End
