A Big Headache


Tigress woke up and looked through the bright panel of light shining through the window. She quickly managed to get her things and strolled out of her door over to the kitchen where she found her teammates.

Most of them.

"Where's Po?" Tigress asked. Monkey shrugged.

"Last I saw him was last night. He hasn't come out of his bed since then."

Tigress rolled her eyes. She walked back to the panda's room, loudly knocking on the door. "Po, wake up. You overslept again."

"Rgughh, go away. Bbbbmm I'm not in the mood."

"Po?" Tigress slowly opened the silk panel. Po lay on his bed, resting his arm over his eyes. His blanket was flimsily draped over his body, half on the ground and half on his belly. He groaned and rolled over in the bed. "Po, it's morning. Why aren't you up?"

"Because I'm trying not to hurl right now," Po grumbled. "Ugghhh."

"Are you sick?"

"No... not really. Ugh, fine, I'll get up." the panda wobbled onto his feet, flailing his hands out for a bit for stability. His eyes labored to open and steady their focus. Was there three Tigress or just... no there was one. "Ugh, I hate these headaches," Po grumbled.

"Po, are you sure you're well?"

"Nope! But I don't think I have any choice since I'm Dragon Warrior. Ugh, I'm fine, Tigress. Just a little... ugh," Po covered his mouth. "Ugh, I haven't eaten anything and I'm still nauseous."

"Po, why don't you stay in bed?"

Just then, Master Shifu popped in through the door. "Po, you're up. I have an errand for you to do."

"Because of that," Po bubbled out an answer.

"Master Shifu," Tigress spoke up, "Po isn't feeling well. I can do the errand for you."

Master Shifu rose an eyebrow. "What is wrong with Po?"

"I'm fine," Po grumbled, struggling to stand up. He grabbed his head with gritted teeth and stumbled a bit. Tigress caught his arm. "Ugh, I'm fine. It's just one of these annoying headaches."

"Seems more than just a normal headache," Shifu replied. "Why don't you stay in bed?"

"I'm fine. This headache happens every time I get rough sleep," Po grumbled, sitting up in his bed. Tigress felt the panda's head with the back of her hand. "I'm not burning up."

"But you're sweating."

"It happens. I'll be fine."

"Po, rest," Tigress said softly. "We'll take care of things while you rest."

"Tigress, I'm... ugh... Okay, okay, I'll stay here," Po groaned. He laid back in the bed and rolled over. Tigress and Shifu carefully walked out of his room and down the hall.

"Do you think this is serious Master Shifu?"

The elderly master stroked his beard. "I doubt it. Po seems to think these headaches are normal. I've had some while I was his age."

"What did you do to stop it?" Tigress asked.

"I slept properly," Shifu said, smiling just a tad. "I believe this is a kind of sleeping headache."

"Sleeping headache?"

"One tends to get them when they oversleep or after an awkward night. If I remember correctly, Po did try to go to bed early last night. His body might not be used to the extra hours."

Tigress tilted her head. "I didn't realize that rest was... a balancing act."

"Well, most of us know what happens when someone has too little sleep, but it can be worse when you have too much sleep as well. The body loves balance just as much as we do," Shifu replied. "Of course, that just means that Po might have a hard time dealing with the headache. Why don't you keep an eye on him? I'll send Crane and Viper to do the errand."

"Yes Master Shifu," Tigress bowed. As the red panda left, Tigress made her way to the kitchen and drew some hot towels and some food, bringing them back to Po's room where the panda had his eyes shut while on his back. Tigress rose an eyebrow and tilted her head in confusion. Po didn't normally sleep on his back. As Tigress took a small step towards him, the panda sighed.

"What is it, Tigress?"

"You... you heard me?"

"No, but I could hear you and Shifu talking right outside my door," Po replied.

"I'm sorry we disturbed you," Tigress said.

Po rubbed his temples with a sigh. "It's okay. I'm just really hating this headache."

Setting the things down by the bed, the striped warrior placed the hot towel on Po's forehead. "Ah Ah! Ooooh that feels nice."

"I'm glad," Tigress smiled as she helped the panda to sit upright. She went to get the food, but Po stopped her.

"I'm not hungry."

"What?" Tigress's eyes widened as her jaw dropped slightly.

"No, no, it's not like... I know I'm probably hungry, but because of the headache I can't really stomach food right now."

"Well," She said, grabbing the food and putting it to his mouth, "Starving is only going to aggravate any ailment you have."

"Ugghhhh."

"Just eat a few bits."

Po gurgled a bit before bringing the food to his lips. He bit some morsels of bread and fruit and squirmed as he felt the bolus travel awkwardly down his throat. "Ugh, easy stomach. This is for your own good."

"I've never seen anyone like this," Tigress commented as she fed him some more. "How often do you have these kinds of headaches?"

"A lot when I was younger. Dad tried to do spotty night shifts for more money, but that didn't work for long. But the headaches always range in pain. If I had to constantly get up at a certain time, I'd be fine. But if I got more sleep like on the weekend, it would hurt."

"What about when you undersleep?" Tigress asked.

"That's actually asking for trouble," Po chuckled weakly, "If I underslept, it would only hurt until the weekend when I could get some more sleep. And it would uggghhhh there we go," Po grumbled as he clutched his stomach. "Whew, okay, where was I... oh yeaah! The headaches would start up when I got some more sleep. It's like my body's way of trying to catch up. It's like it's saying, 'Hey! We can finally get some more sleep! We need to work overtime to repair.'"

"I'd figure that training would be enough of a task on your body to put you soundly to sleep," Tigress said.

"It is, but if I wake up at a weird time or if I oversleep and wake up wrong, then the ouchy starts."

"How do you wake up wrong then?" Tigress asked.

Po grumbled under his breath, "By having a loud gong wake you up when you had to help your dad late last night."

"Ah, I see."

"I should get up, though," Po grunted upright again. "The headache only goes away when I actually go to sleep."

"What will you do in the meantime? You can't fight in this condition," Tigress replied.

"Well, I guess I'll just do some meditation. I don't know."

"What do you usually do when you had these headaches?"

"Just take it easy."

"Maybe you should do that?" Tigress smirked.

"Yeah, but I don't think Kung Fu masters can do that, right?"

"A good warrior knows their weaknesses and takes care to make sure that they don't affect their decisions and goals," Tigress explained. "Masters have to rest as well, Po."

"Hmm."

"What gave you the idea that you couldn't rest?"

Po sat quietly for a moment. He removed the now lukewarm towel on his head and gave it to Tigress. Sighing, the panda said, "Well, you guys... I guess."

"Us?" Tigress echoed.

"Yeah, especially you. It's just... I see you guys doing your best no matter what. I mean, isn't it stupid that I'm letting this little headache keep me from doing something important? It's not giving birth or stopping an army of demon soldiers from causing destruction. It's just a headache."

"Whether it be big or small, a problem can have the same result if not taken care of. Just because this seems small to you doesn't mean it doesn't have a large effect on how you function," Tigress smiled a bit, resting her hand on Po's shoulder. "And you can't compare us to you, Po. We're all different and what we struggle with is different from your struggles. Much like my anger."

"Hehe, yeah. But you don't feel anything. Isn't that a major advantage? I wish I was like that, then I wouldn't have to worry about this headache. ARGH the pain," Po grumbled.

Tigress frowned and gazed at the ground. "It isn't an advantage not to feel anything, Po. It's actually a disadvantage."

"What do you mean? You've been able to do all of this stuff without feeling any pain or-"

"But that doesn't mean that I don't feel pain," Tigress interrupted. Po sat still as she took a long breath. "Po, as much as it seems that feeling nothing has perks, it comes with a great price. Isolation and misunderstanding. I wanted to feel nothing because... I figured that it would mean no pain."

Tigress clenched her fists and pursed her lips together. "But I only traded one pain for a greater one. Without physical pain, I felt emotional pain strongly, but I couldn't express it. I wouldn't... I wouldn't allow myself to do so. I basically shut myself in, and there's no true joy in it. Not to those who actually want someone to understand them."

Tigress looked out Po's window where the bright sunlight faded for a second from the passing clouds. "And so," She continued, "No one would approach me because I wouldn't feel pain. And the ways I could help people are extremely limited because I couldn't imagine how they feel."

She looked at Po's slightly worried yet amazed face. She smiled. "But you always know exactly what a person needs and wants. You can see a person's heart much easier than I can. You can help people more than I can."

"It hurts," Po muttered sadly. "It hurts to help people sometimes. More than any headache."

Po couldn't bring himself to say anything else. There was no need to. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. For a long wahile, Tigress tired to determine what he could be thinking about. His lips turned into a frown that hardened as his eyes glared into the floor.

"How can you tell who's trustworthy and who isn't?" Po asked, seemingly out of the blue.

The tiger sighed with a small smile. She knew where that question came from. From years of pain and abuse. "There is no way."

"What?"

"Sometimes you think that someone is completely trustworthy, but they fail. Everyone does. Everyone makes mistakes, Po," Tigress smiled. "I think you can trust people, but you have to have a realistic view of them. In fact, you have to accept people as they are, not as you want them to be."

"But don't you regret... you know... caring?"

Tigress looked towards the door. What she was looking at, Po couldn't figure out. "There are some people I wish I cared less about. About what they thought of me anyway." Then she turned to Po. "And then there are some people I wish I cared more about from the beginning. Either way, you're going to make mistakes about who you trust and who you don't. You're always going to make painful choices."

"But... isn't there a way not to feel pain?"

"Extreme isolation. Where you cut yourself off from everyone you've ever loved and just live for yourself," Tigress chuckled a bit. "But people already do that and it only produces selfishness." She looked at her hands. Bruises and scars long healed and faded stared back at her. "In the end, the only way to really feel less pain... is to accept it for what it is. Not to focus on what it could be or what it should be. But just what it is."

"Huh, isn't that the whole thing about meditation or something?" Po asked. Tigress nodded with a smile. "Huh, I didn't know that."

"It comes with experience," Tigress sighed.

"Hmm," Po yawned. "I think... I think I should get some rest."

Tigress nodded. "I'll be here when you wake up."

"And Tigress? Thanks."

"For what?"

"For just... being here. I know you said that not feeling anything doesn't help you... you know... help people, but... I think you've helped me a lot," Po smiled.

The tiger smiled back. "And you've helped me." She picked up the rest of the food and towels and left the panda in peace where he happily snored to recovery.

The End

A/N: Yes this was because I had a headache. Honestly, I don't know where I was going with this story, but it started getting close to home so I figured it was worth it. I hope it was. :)