Blushing Panda


The lantern swayed from side to side as they walked down the semi-circular corridor of ancient warrior statues. The striped one glanced at the towering sculptures and pillars that stood behind them. The statues gazed at the two warriors passing their lantern through. "Why are we here at the library of warriors?" Tigress asked.

"Master Shifu wanted us to get something," Monkey replied. "He wanted to make sure that there really isn't any warrior like Po."

"Why?"

"Double checking?" Monkey shrugged. Tigress sighed. Shifu's doubt and skepticism made sense sometimes, but when Po saved his tenth village, she thought he would develop a little faith. Apparently not. Tigress glanced back to the towering statues overhead. They came to the large wooden door encrusted with golden tales of heroic fights. "Hehe, I guess they're the gold standard for warriors, huh?"

"Let's get this over with," Tigress sighed with a roll of her eyes. She opened the door to a dark and dusty wall of scrolls about 7 feet high and two feet wide. "This is going to take a while."

"Just look for anything about pandas."

The two got to work searching through the scrolls. It was nearing nighttime; hence the orange lantern. Monkey climbed up to the top of the shelf to find the scrolls, while Tigress stuck with the bottom. Her fingers traced down the delicate ancient paper of each scroll until one of them hit the floor. She picked it up and unfurled it.

Pandas, though seemingly peaceful creatures, share a lot with their other bear counterparts. When protecting their kind, their viciousness tends to be an intense focus, unlike the grizzly who, on average, are much louder in their displays of ferocity.

"Monkey, I've found something."

"Great! We can get out of here." They put the scrolls back and closed the massive library door behind them.

As they walked back, Tigress kept reading the scroll. "It's interesting," she said. "This is a very detailed record of how pandas behave."

"You mean we have the manual for Po?" Monkey joked.

A small crack of a smile broke on Tigress's lips. "It also says here that pandas do have an interesting trait."

"What's that?"

"They blush bright red."

"Doesn't everyone?"

"No, I mean in their whole face gets red. To the point that their face may look as red as a red panda."

Monkey's eyes lept open. "Shifu red? You're kidding"

"It says it's rare, but yes."

"Wow, what I wouldn't give to see that face," Monkey chuckled.

Tigress thought for a moment. Her mind wandered to what the scroll said. As her feet brought her to the start of the Jade Palace steps, she stopped. The full moon was slowly rising over the mountain's back and the little lights of the valley started to show. Tigress still held the lantern, staring at the ground. "Tigress, is something wrong?"

"Monkey, have you ever seen Po embarrass himself?"

"Of course, dozens of times."

"And has he ever once blushed?" Monkey blinked several times. "I think I understand why this is rarer than we think," Tigress replied.

And she was right. Po was clumsy; everyone could see that. But to make people blush required a level of embarrassment or bashfulness that the two warriors weren't sure Po ever had. Heck, he disrobed right in front of them on laundry day and just fumbled around trying to cover himself. The only person Monkey could think of that had the ability to make Po blush was probably Mr. Ping. "Why Mr. Ping?" Tigress asked.

Monkey shrugged, "Parents tend to embarrass everyone. They just know the cords to hit, I guess."

"I wouldn't know."

"I think you do," Monkey simply said. The next day, they walked into Mr. Ping's shop. The two warriors sat in front of the counter where the goose was preparing their usual food. "Hey, Mr. Ping."

"Ah, Master Tigress, Master Monkey. So good of you to come," said the goose. "Please, please have a seat."

"Thank you, Mr. Ping," Tigress smiled. It was always nice to see the goose in good mood. And when he wasn't fighting Li Shan for another game of Mahjong. "We were actually wondering something about Po."

"What?! What happened? Is he okay?"

"He's fine. He's fine," Monkey said. "We were just wondering about his past."

"What about it?"

"Has... Po ever blushed?"

The goose had a lost and... goose'd expression on his face. His mouth dropped and his eyes switched between the tiger and the simian fighter. Mr. Ping took out the towel stuffed in one of the straps of his apron and rubbed the underside of his bill as he wiped the counter. "Actually... no."

"What?" Tigress and Monkey exclaimed.

"No, I've never seen Po blush. Actually, before Li Shan showed up, I didn't think pandas could blush. I had never seen Po blush before with any of his crushes or his exs."

"Po has... had girlfriends before?" Tigress said slowly. She looked at Monkey who simply shrugged. "Who... I mean... how did that happen?"

Mr. Ping smirked a bit. "I guess it's the old Mr. Ping charm." Monkey quickly stifled a laugh while Tigress smiled a bit. "But I know Li Shan blushed when he first saw his wife. And ever since the pandas started moving in, I've seen the young ones blushing when they confess their feelings for someone."

"And Po?"

Mr. Ping stood in silence, folding his wings over each other. "I don't know. There was a time I thought he simply wasn't interested in dating anyone after his last girlfriend."

"Po is, what, in his twenties?" Monkey said. "How many girlfriends did he have?"

"Two... I think. It's hard to figure out when he has a crush and when he has a girlfriend."

"How is that... difficult?" Tigress asked slowly.

"Because he treats them pretty much the same. Kind, respectful, and caring. Hehe, and he never brings them around me cuz he thinks I'll embarrass him."

"So he can get embarrassed?" Monkey asked.

"Oh, Po gets embarrassed all the time. He's clumsy."

Tigress and Monkey looked at each other and nodded. "Thank you for the food, Mr. Ping. We have to go."

"Anytime. And tell Po he needs to clean his room here!" Mr. Ping called out. The two warriors left the shop a little more confused than they went inside.

"Do you think we'll ever see Po blush? The more and more we hear about it, the more I think it's as rare as finding the end of the rainbow," Monkey said.

Tigress rolled her eyes. "It's not that critical. If we're fortunate enough to see it, I'm sure it wouldn't be for our entertainment. Blushing is a sign of offense. I wouldn't want to be the person who offends Po."

"Again?" Tigress narrowed her eyes at the primate. "Hehe, never mind." As they walked up the Jade Palace steps, Monkey kept thinking about the problem of Po's blush. Rubbing his chin with one hand and holding his lunch with his tail, he walked up the stairs mostly in silence. As they got to the top, he said, "But if there was a way to make him blush, how would we know? I mean, it'd take a lot for someone like Po to even be 'offended'."

"What do you mean?"

"Po isn't the kind of guy to really show when he's offended," Monkey replied.

Tigress tilted her head. "How do you know that?" Monkey's eyes widened and darted everywhere except the person that they were supposed to be on. Tigress's glare hardened. "Monkey, what are you not telling me?"

Monkey sighed, "Okay, don't be upset or tell Po I told you, but... there have been times when you or Master Shifu have hurt Po's feelings without knowing it."

"What?! When?"

"I don't keep a record."

"Then why haven't there been any problems with the food? Po always eats when he's upset."

"And he knows that," Monkey replied in a steady voice foreign to the primate's nature. "So he usually eats at his father's place."

Tigress's jaw was still on the ground when she suddenly shook her head and stared at Monkey with a raised eyebrow. "Why just Master Shifu and me?"

"You two... tend to treat Po like he's your responsibility rather than your friend."

"He is."

"But you treat a responsibility differently than a friend. And you do tend to have a very harsh way of putting things," Monkey replied.

"Oh," Tigress's ears drooped as she looked at the ground. "I see."

"Don't beat yourself up too much. Po usually admits that he's too soft and gets easily touchy. It's been something he's working on."

"I had no idea."

"Me neither, until Crane and I had to give him a message when he was at his dad's shop. Don't blame yourself too much, Tigress. He wouldn't want you to do that."

Tigress nodded as they reached the barracks. As they rounded the corner, they, quite literally, bumped into Po's round belly.

"OOPS! Sorry, guys," Po smiled. "I was in a bit of a rush."

"Po, watch... It's okay Po," Tigress sighed stopping herself. "Where are you in a rush to?"

"Master Shifu wanted me to get something. I'll be right back. OOOH! Is that my dad's new food?! Awesome! He hasn't let me try it yet. I have to get down there and get some."

"You can have some of mine if you want," Tigress smiled, offering the food. Po's eyes shot open. He scratched the back of his head, chuckling quite nervously.

"Ehhehehe, No, no, it's okay. I'll uhhh. I'll just get some later. Ummm I need to go, bye!" With that, the panda was off.

"That was... more than Po's usual level of strange," Monkey said.

"It was," Tigress replied. The simian glanced up at the tiger warrior with a small smirk.

"And why are you sharing your food with him all of a sudden?"

Tigress gave a small growl which ended in a sigh. "Because you're ultimately right. I still let my anger problems get the best of me. But just because of that, it doesn't mean that I should take them out on Po or anyone else close to me."

Monkey's smile widened. "I'm sure that's the right move." As Tigress went down to eat at the table, Monkey's head suddenly perked up with his face. "Say, Tigress, when Po's around you, is he usually frightened or jumpy?"

"Usually, why?"

"Any idea why?"

Tigress simply blinked and stared with a shake of her head, "He complains that I walk too softly, but I'm sure it's because he's not as... aware of his surroundings."

"Hmmm." Monkey sat his food down. "Make sure my food's hot, okay? I'm gonna check up on something." Before Tigress could even say no, Monkey rushed out the door.

The next morning, Po woke up and reached for his pants to find they weren't there. He was still in his underwear, but he could feel the cool mountain air chilling his legs. "What the?" Po looked around the room and found his pants caught in the edge of the door. "Huh? How did you guys get there?" He asked as he went to get it.

Suddenly, the pants darted through the door and out to the hall. "Wait come back!" Po carefully peaked outside his room. No one was in their room. No stir, no movement, nothing. Po looked down the hall and saw his pants in the middle. "I swear if this is Monkey's idea of a prank I'm gonna-" He quickly grabbed the nearest towel in his bedroom, wrapped it around his waist, and slid the door open. "Alright, you little fast pair of pants, get ready to feel the thunda." He lept and crashed right onto the pair of pants.

Of course, the pants shouldn't have felt so soft and warm. "Oh no."

When Master Shifu or the Furious Five are away, Po doesn't really get up as early as the rest. He does, however, only go to the kitchen immediately after waking up.

Why?

Because one time, Po decided to take a bath, which is in the opposite direction from the barracks' kitchen. And that led to a similar situation that he found himself in now.

Po opened his eyes and saw that Tigress had stepped out of her room just as Po lept onto his pants, which had slipped away in the confusing turmoil. Po landed on Tigress, who had a towel tightly around her body as she headed for the bathhouse. Thankfully, no one was hurt and no towels came undone. But the panda and tiger looked wide eye to wide eye.

"P-Po, what are you-?"

Po lept off of Tigress and stood stiff, quickly grabbing the pants from the floor. He stood straight and tall like a stiff board with his hands firmly placed to his sides. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to- I was was just getting my pants and they started moving and I sound crazy and I you I!" And then it happened. Po's full face blushed bright red like a red tomato. "I gotta go!" Po ran back to his room and slammed the door shut.

Tigress stood blinking in confusion. Then she heard a snicker and growled low. "Monkey." Quickly changing into her regular clothes, she rounded the corner and found the monkey with a bamboo fish pole while he covered his laughing mouth with his hand. Monkey looked up, saw Tigress, and grinned sheepishly as her growl continued to grow louder. "What. Are. You. Doing?"

"Uhhh trying to figure out if Po can blush?"

"By stealing his pants and making him run into me?!" Tigress snarled.

"Ho-ho-hold on! I know it looks bad, but now... we know what Po looks like when he blushes. Hehe, hehe."

Tigress glared at the simian with a scathing heat that could rival the sun. She took a long calming breath. "You're right, Monkey. Now we know. But now I want to know if a monkey can turn blue."

"B-Blue?" Monkey stumbled.

"Yes," Tigress replied as she cracked her knuckles, "Black and blue."

Later on, Po sat on the top of the Jade Palace steps, gloomily looking down into the quiet village. The twilight of the setting sun slowly slipped into a silent night sky and the wind from the foot of the mountain blew warm air up to its cool peak. But Po still sighed. He groaned as he clamped his eyes shut and plopped back onto the flat ground behind him, groaning even louder. "How could I be so stupid? Why am I so stupid?! Ugh, she's gonna hate me now."

"I don't hate you," said a voice behind him. Po bolted upright and spun around. Tigress slowly walked up to Po and took a seat next to him on the steps. "I'm not upset with you Po. It wasn't your fault."

"Really?"

"It was Monkey's doing," Tigress growled softly. "I'm sorry you felt embarrassed."

"Ahahahah, embarrassed doesn't really cut it," Po chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "I think it's probably worse than the time I uh... took off my pants in front of you guys."

"I'm sure there are other embarrassing things you can think of," Tigress smirked.

"Yeah, but I'd prefer not to think of them," Po chuckled. "By the way, why did Monkey do that anyway? Seems kinda stupid, even for him."

Tigress sighed, "He was trying to... make you blush."

"Huh?"

"We found a scroll in the library of warriors and... it said that giant pandas can blush like a bright red tomato, even though underneath the fur."

Po tilted his head to the side. "Did I blush?"

"You did," Tigress said with a small smile. "It wasn't something I've ever seen before. You looked exactly like a tomato."

Po crossed his chubby arms with a huff. "Well, I'm glad you find it funny."

"I'm sorry, Po. And I'm sorry you had to suffer Monkey's foolish prank."

"Heh, I'll get over it," Po replied with a shrug. He stood up and offered his hand to Tigress. "Come on, I think I'll take my blushing cheeks to bed. Today was a... weird day."

"Agreed."

"By the way," Po said as they started their way back to the barracks. "Is there a reason why Monkey was covered in bandages when I last saw him?"

Tigress straightened her back as she looked ahead with an even unfaltering stare. "He got what he deserved. That's all you need to know."

"Aye-Aye ma'am," Po quickly saluted with a nervous chuckle.

And that is how pandas blush and why Monkey is not allowed to use Crane's fishing pole ever again.

The End