Dreaming into Reality


Demi was calmly sipping his tea when I flung the door open. "I'm BACK!"

"Good morning to you, too," Demi muttered, setting the tea down. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Peace? No. Life? More than I did. Trouble? Of course always."

"But did you find help?" Demi asked.

I sighed, "Yeah. By allowing it to come." I sat down. "I've got to get back to this."

"Why?"

"There's too much amusement in the world. I want to write magic."

"Uh... non-philosophy please?"

I rolled my eyes. "I want to write something that will better the world. If it offers escape, I'll do my best to make it so. But there's only so much we can dream before something inside of us wants the dream to be reality." I sighed, "But I don't want people to chase after unrealistic dreams. I can't make pandas talk, nor should I."

"So how do you make good dreams real?"

I smiled widely, "My friend, I think you just gave me another idea."

**********F*********

His eyes fluttered open, squinting at the soothing sun pouring into his room. He snuggled deeper into the soft orange fur beside him. "Hmmm," He groaned, rubbing his head against it the softness. "Turn off the sun."

"You go and do it," The softness muttered, though it didn't bother to push him away. The man sighed and rolled onto his back, making the softness frown. "I didn't say leave."

"Hehe, I thought you would have been up before me, honey."

"You're... too soft."

"Right, right." The man grinned, kissing the orange softness on the cheek. "And it wasn't because of last night."

"Hmph, don't be smug, Po."

"Hehe, sorry, Tigress." The panda rolled to his side, extending a hand to comb the tiger's head while she dozed in the sun. "You sure you're not sick or something. You're usually up before me."

"I'm tired."

"From last-"

"Po," She elbowed his chest. "Stop it."

"Heheh, sorry. Can't help having a beautiful warrior next to me and not feel like a man on the moon."

"Flirt," She muttered but smirked. Tigress shuffled under the covers, but the sun became too bright for her eye. "Ugh, might as well get up."

"We don't have chores today," Po said as she shifted upright. She snatched a robe by their bed and wrapped it around her fur while Po stayed in bed.

"I mean so we can have time to do... other things," The tiger smirked. Po grinned from ear to ear as he grabbed his own robe.

Just then, the earth cracked and a huge quake ripped through the ground. "What's happening!" Po shouted, instinctively grabbing onto Tigress, shielding her from anything around.

"I don't know!" The two looked outside. The valley tumbled into a bottomless pit and a widening crack in the earth ran up the mountain. It broke their bedroom apart, but Tigress and Po latched onto each other.

"Hang on to me!" Po shouted as the wind picked up. Suddenly, the roof blew off and swirled around in the air. A black swirling vortex stood where the sun was. "It's the end of the world!"

"Po!" Tigress began lifting off the ground. Po held her hand, but the vortex pulled her hard. "Please Po! I don't want to lose you!"

"I won't let you go, Tigress!" The panda rooted his feet. He strained every muscle to keep her from leaving. But the earthquake rocked his footing and Po's feet started lifting off the ground. "Ah! Oh no!"

"Po!" Tigress reached for his hand. "Please don't let go of me!"

"I won't! I will not let you go!" Po shouted. He grabbed her close and hugged her. "I won't let you go." The vortex picked them up and swallowed them whole into its belly.

"AAAHHHHH!" Po bolted up from the ground.

"Oh good, you're awake," Monkey sighed. Po looked around. He was in the Sick Bay. He was home. His friends stood around him except one person. Before he could ask, he heard another short yell and looked to his side. Tigress had woken up.

"Wha... what happened?" Po asked.

"Remember that rogue alchemist we were trying to hunt down?" Crane asked. Po slowly nodded. "We were fighting him and you and Tigress got hit by some sleeping potion. You've been out for a couple of hours." Po's face couldn't process anything at the moment. He stared at his friend, slowly understanding what he just said.

"So... none of it was... real?"

"Of course not, why?" Crane asked. "You look like you were having a nightmare." Po looked at Tigress in the other bed who was being soothed by Viper. The panda frowned, sighing under his breath as he got up.

"The last part was a nightmare." He left the room before anyone could ask him anything else.

For the rest of the day, Po sat under the Peach Tree, eating the fruits while his face was bent into a frown. He sighed almost continuously, and if his face drooped any more it would be touching the ground. He looked at the moon and the valley. He didn't feel like sleeping anymore. He never wanted to go to sleep. He was just about to sigh again when he heard footsteps behind him. "Tigress?"

"How did you know it was me?"

"Lucky guess," Po sighed. She sat next to him, not saying a word. The quiet sound of Po's munching broke the silence, but not by much. When he finally tossed the pit, Tigress took a long breath, saying,

"Po, what's wrong? You haven't been the same since we woke up. And it's late, very late. You're usually going to bed by now."

"Are you sleepy?"

"That's not the point."

"Tigress, I don't know," Po huffed. "I just don't feel tired that's all."

Tigress narrowed her eyes. "That doesn't explain why you seem upset."

"I'm not upset."

"The litter of peach seeds says different."

"It was just a nightmare," Po finally confessed. "And... I'm afraid to go to bed."

"Oh. I see," Tigress replied. Silence entered in their conversation again. This time it pricked Po's head like a tick. He couldn't busy his hands with eating so he was stuck. He glanced at Tigress. Her legs were crossed and her hands rested on her legs. She looked away from him, probably thinking of a way to say what was on her mind.

Po helped her out. "It was nothing. I just... it was a scary dream and... I wish I..."

"It's okay, Po," Tigress said, resting her hand on his shoulder. "I understand. I... was a little unnerved by my dream as well. It was..." She trailed off and shook her head. "Master Shifu wants to make sure that we're okay, so he's going to the alchemist's tomorrow to make sure that we don't have something more serious."

"Ha," Po said more than chuckled. He stood up, lifting the world on his shoulders and emitting another sigh. "Having something more serious would've been better. I'm gonna try and go to sleep." The panda walked down the steps, leaving a stranded tiger sighing from her own pain. A lot had happened, and she knew that her friendship with the panda would be different after this. She didn't know how.

Shifu's investigation took longer than expected, and he was away for four days. In the meantime, Po lost all energy to do anything. While the others tried their best to make him feel better, the panda seemed to be more upset than normal. The only person that seemed to understand his plight was Tigress. She'd sit with him in total silence, not sad, but conflicted, darting her eyes about before offering a word of encouragement.

Finally, Master Shifu came back. Tigress, Po, and the others stood at attention in the Hall of Heroes, waiting for the red panda's report. "Master Shifu. We're glad you are back. Was your investigation fruitful?" Tigress asked.

"Hmmm, it was... in some ways." Shifu fretfully stroked his beard, narrowing his eyes at Po and Tigress. He gazed deeply into the jade floor. A massive puzzle shifted around in his head that no one could figure out. "Tigress and Po, please stay. The rest of you are dismissed." The others bowed and left. Po was indifferent to the whole scene. His listless gaze stayed on Shifu while an emotionless frown formed on his lips. Tigress looked more intrigued, but not much different from Po's face. Like she was hiding something?

Shifu shook his head. Whatever they were thinking, things probably wouldn't change when he told them the truth. At least, that's what he thought at first. "I interrogated the alchemist that threw the liquid at you two. Apparently, it was supposed to reveal some inner mysteries held inside a person's brain. He was going to try and find a way to Po's ultimate power."

"Hm," Po simply muttered.

"But I interceded," Tigress said.

"Right, but he said that since you two were knocked out, the potion was defective. He theorized that instead of giving you access into Po's mind, it's more likely that you two were sharing a dream of your hidden desires. Whatever that may look like," Shifu said.

The tiger and panda shot their eyes wide open and looked at each other. Tigress immediately turned away, bowed to her master, saying, "Thank you Master Shifu, I think that'll be all for us."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Po exclaimed, "So Tigress and I had the same dream? And it was a dream that showed us what we both wanted?"

"That's... that's what he hypothesized, yes," Shifu clarified. "Is something the-"

"Nothing, Master Shifu," Tigress quickly said. "Thank you for your report." With that, the tiger quickly power-walked to her room as her mind tumbled with every thought imaginable. She almost made it to her room, but when she closed the door, it bumped into something.

"OW! Geez, you didn't have to close the door so hard," Po muttered, stepping inside her room.

"What do you want Po?" She grumbled, facing away from him.

"If you and I had the same dream then you knew what was bothering me?"

"That being with me was a nightmare?" Tigress grunted.

"What?! No! Being sucked up by a huge black spinny thing was the nightmare!" Po exclaimed. He gently rested his hand on her shoulder. "And being ripped away from you was more than I could bear." (HEhe puns)

Tigress turned around, knocking Po's hand off, "If that was the dream you had, why were you so depressed about it?"

"Because... I thought it was never gonna be real," Po said, hanging his head, "When I woke up, I wanted everything... except the swirling cyclone of death, to be real. But when I woke up, I... I thought there was no way that you would like me... like I like you." He looked down and sighed, but Tigress's hand lifted his chin up. She smiled, no she grinned from ear to ear.

"But I do like you, Po. Just like you like me," Tigress said. Po beamed as bright as the morning sun, causing the tiger to chuckle a bit. "So what do we do now?"

"Uh... well... if the romance books are accurate-"

"You read romance books?" Tigress asked. The deep shock in her face was louder than her roar. Po rolled his eyes.

"I'm a hidden hopeless romantic, okay? But usually, this is the part where... the couple uhh..."

"Yes?" Tigress smirked, drawing closer to Po. The panda's eyes darted around the room.

"Iuh... usually this is where the couple uhh... umm," He didn't need words. Tigress's lips trapped any that would've come out. The two locked their lips together as their arms wrapped around each other. Tigress caressed his cheek, gently pulling him further into the kiss while the panda's big arms cradled her form. As they separated, they smiled, beaming together as they rested their heads on each other. "That is the biggest smile I've ever seen you have."

"You don't like it?"

"Are you kidding? I love it! And... I love you."

Tigress's smile widened, "I love you too."

******F**********

His eyes fluttered open, squinting at the soothing sun pouring into his room. He snuggled deeper into the soft orange fur beside him. "Hmmm," He groaned, rubbing his head against it the softness. "Turn off the sun."

"You go and do it," The softness muttered, though it didn't bother to push him away. The man sighed and rolled onto his back, making the softness frown. "I didn't say leave."

"Hehe, I thought you would have been up before me, honey."

"You're... too soft."

"Right, right." The man grinned, kissing the orange softness on the cheek. "And it wasn't because of last night."

"Hmph, don't be smug, Po."

"Hehe, sorry, Tigress." The panda rolled to his side, extending a hand to comb the tiger's head while she dozed in the sun. "You sure you're not sick or something. You're usually up before me."

"I'm tired."

"From last-"

"Po," She elbowed his chest. "Stop it."

"Heheh, sorry. Can't help having a beautiful warrior next to me and not feel like a man on the moon."

"Flirt," She muttered but smirked. Suddenly, Po's arms latched around Tigress's waist, joisting away whatever sleepiness she still had. "Uh, Po? What are you doing?"

"I... this all seems familiar. I'm having Deja vu. WAIT! This is when we got sucked up by that vortex and we-"

"Po, that was a dream and it was 5 years ago," Tigress muttered.

"Still, I'm not letting you go," Po stubbornly said. Tigress shook her head and turned around to face the panda. Of course, Po's arms still clung around Tigress's birthday clothes under the sheets.

"I don't plan on leaving," She smiled. "Besides, I knew it was a dream the moment you started lifting off the ground."

"Why?"

"Po, no cyclone can pick you up."

"WOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOW!" Po released her and rolled onto his back. "I'm hurt. I'm really hurt."

"Hehe, I'm sorry," She sighed, trying to hug him.

"No, no. We wouldn't want me to roll on top of you and crush you. Hmph."

Tigress shook her head at the panda's pout and snuggled onto his bear chest. (Hehe puns) "I love you, Po."

"Hmm, I guess I love you too," Po muttered, but he couldn't stay mad at her forever. "I'm glad that dreams really do come true."

"Me too."

"But hopefully that vortex doesn't become true," Po grunted, wrapping an arm around Tigress for extra certainty.

Tigress just laughed.

The End