Po looked around the bathhouse, trying to settle on a hiding place, and questioning his life choices.

"Are you...absolutely sure...Tigress?"

He considered the rafters, but soon dismissed them. They didn't look strong enough to support anybody, let alone him, provided little cover, and relying on her not to look up was a shaky strategy at best.

"Positive. You heard what he said."

Unfortunately, nowhere else looked viable, either. He found himself seriously considering huddling underwater in the corner with the most shadows, despite knowing he had no way to breathe, and it very likely wasn't deep enough to fully conceal him even if he lay flat.

"Yeah, but I don't understand how we get from that to...this..."

Starting to feel just a little desperate, he looked at the darkest corner, at the back left, wondering if there was enough shadow to conceal him fully. As his eyes adjusted to the gloom, he realised there already was something hidden there.

"Even at your most vulnerable. This is my most vulnerable."

A screen, three deep purple panels with a shimmering golden dragon rippling across them, with just enough space for him behind it.

"But you don't do vulnerable. You're hardcore."

Po eased himself into the space between screen and wall, sinking to a knee. "Okay," he whispered to himself. "Engage stealth mode."

"Even hardcore has its limits. I need to test them."

Putting his eye to the slim gap between two of the panels, he found it provided a clear view of most of the pool. "Good."

"All right, but why me? Because I'm the Dragon Warrior, and there's no more awesome challenge to face?"

Po was there less than a minute before the door slid open and Tigress stepped in. Moving to the edge of the pool, she methodically scanned the room. Po held his breath.

"No. Because you're Po Ping."

Her eyes slid over the screen. Po breathed out. They came to rest on the pool, a subtle smile curved her lips, then she smoothly and quickly sloughed her qipao and leggings. Folding them tidily and setting them aside, she slipped into the warm, steam-wreathed water with hardly a ripple, and the faintest of sighs.

"How much difference does that make?"

Po took her in. The taut, powerful figure, not a trace of fat on it, only honed muscle. The sleek, vivid coat of orange, brown, black and white fur, the patterning so intricate it was hard not to lose himself in it, and so soft it was sometimes an effort not to run a paw over it. Iron with a surface of silk. The numerous scars, most so small as to be overlooked easily, a few more prominent, many he knew the stories of, more than a few he didn't, and a couple – the short, sharp curve of one in place of the bottom left of her six subtle nipples, the dark little dash at the very top of her right inner thigh, dangerously close to the discreet crease of her vulva, the slice on her left ear – he was sure he never would.

"Enough."

Tigress settled on her knees, the water to her waist, scooped up a big pawful, and poured it slowly over her back. Another sluiced down her chest. She even tilted her head back, eyes closed, to let one flow over her softly smiling face.

Po bit his lip, forcing the thought that came in response to stay as just that. "So tigers do like water."

The feline bent to dip her head fully under the water, multiple times, all the while still pouring it over herself. The smile grew.

"Really like water."

She submerged herself completely, almost lying face down, all five of her limbs stretched out loosely.

"Really, really like water. Or maybe just she does."

A minute passed, and Tigress was still under.

"Hm. Guess tigers can hold their breath a long time. Makes sense."

Two minutes.

"A really long time. At what point do I start panicking?"

Just shy of three minutes, she erupted back up, water surging around her as she drew in heavy breaths with her biggest smile yet.

"New personal record?" Po frowned. "Do I really want to disturb her when she's enjoying herself this much?"

Tigress settled against the side of the pool, limbs trailing, head lolling back with eyes closed and a smile so wide it took a while for the panda to accept it as real.

"When has she ever enjoyed herself this much?"

Many minutes slid by, the feline almost appearing to drift into a doze, while Po tussled more and more with himself. He'd reached the point of tugging on his ears in frustration when Tigress spoke up.

"You're running out of time, Po."

He covered his muzzle with a paw.

"And it would be a shame to waste all your efforts."

He clamped his snout. Hard.

"You found a good hiding place. I don't know where you are."

He started shoving his fist into his mouth.

"You've managed to go all but fifteen minutes without giving yourself away You're doing really well."

Po's mouth was now almost entirely filled with fist.

"And I may have...another motive for asking you to do this, but if you don't actually attack, you'll never know..."

The panda surged from behind the screen, took three bounds toward the pool and aimed a sweeping kick at the feline's head. A striped paw snapped out to catch his foot, then a fluid twist of her wrist redirected his momentum so he almost went crashing through the door.

Tigress' eyes opened, the smile threatening to become a grin. "There we go." She smoothly rose, set herself, and beckoned. "More."

Po righted himself. "I have questions." Spun back at her. "But I'm not sure I actually want the answers."

The feline chuckled, deflecting or dodging every blow as she stood in the water, barely moving her feet. "It's not what you think."

"I don't know what to think." Po directed a fist at her flank and a kick at her knee. "This is too far outside the usual Tigress experience."

She blocked the punch with a forearm, but the foot made just enough contact to hit her off-balance, sending her pitching into the water. She twisted back to her feet just in time to catch a drop kicking Po and fling him across the pool with a tremendous splash. "You think I'm too stern to have fun?" She was definitely grinning, now. "Too...po-faced?"

The panda gaped, jaw slack. "You punned. A good pun. A Po pun. Is this real, or am I having a seriously weird dream?"

Tigress beckoned again. "Stop talking and keep hitting me."

Po pushed his jaw closed, shook his head, and charged into a barrage of attacks so fast and relentless even the feline struggled to weather it all, though her grin didn't waver. If anything, it got bigger. The panda managed to trip her, and tried to pin her against the pool wall, but she found just enough purchase and momentum to spin them both round, and Po rapidly found his back pressed to the wall, her body holding his in place, her paws on the lip either side of his head, her nose touching his, the grin so wide it almost scared him.

"Are we done?" he all but squeaked.

Tigress nodded. "With the test, yes." Her head cocked, the grin fading a little. "Are you all right?"

"Well, I'm being straddled by a naked kung fu goddess I happen to be a massive fan of with no real idea what's happening or what's about to happen, so...uh...don't really know..."

Tigress' expression shifted to something that could almost have been called coy. "Don't you trust me?"

"With my life," Po immediately responded, "but..."

"This is too far outside the usual Tigress experience." She chuckled, a little ruefully. "So I'm not allowed to...try new things?"

"Of course you are!" Po hastened to assure. "I-I just...wouldn't mind a little, you know, warning. And explanation. Because, right now, kinda hard not to think this is going somewhere I...really don't want to go."

"Definitely not going there," Tigress assured him, firmly.

The panda sighed. Anxiety melted into curiosity. "Then what...?"

The feline's ears coloured. "Well..." She glanced around. "It's..."

"Hold on." Po eased her away. "Lemme get more comfy, then tell me everything." He rose, stripped off his shorts, sat back down against the side of the pool, legs loosely crossed, and opened his arms. "Ready."

Tigress stared at him.

"Oh. Yeah. Hardcore. Never m-"

"Actually..." She squared her shoulders, then settled in his lap, resting her head against the side of his. "This...is my other motive."

"This?" Po's eyes were saucers. "The hardcore...want cuddles...?"

Tigress chuckled, softly. "It's your fault, you know. First you make me hug you, then you hug me, and suddenly...I want more."

"Just like that?" The panda linked his paws on her belly.

"I was...less hardcore, once. You know that. Back in the early days at Bao Gu. My belief is that the traits I had then, the needs, didn't vanish entirely, but were just...buried. Deeply. Now..."

"They're surfacing again."

"Exactly. I could try to tamp them back down, but, considering I now have a...near-perfect outlet..."

Po pouted, playfully. "Near-perfect?"

"You're not exactly known for your discretion..."

"Oh, you want this kept quiet."

Tigress gave a nod. "You can imagine how Monkey and Mantis would react if either of them were to discover the master of hardstyle...liked a cuddle. And how I'd react to their reactions."

"Ah. For their protection as much as yours."

"More theirs, I'd say."

"Right. True." Po held up a paw. "I solemnly swear I won't let a word of this slip to Mantis or-" His paw dropped. "Wait, what about Viper?"

"Viper...wouldn't react like Monkey or Mantis, but it still wouldn't be a...comfortable reaction, so..."

"Right." Po raised his paw again. "I solemnly swear I won't let a word of this slip to Mantis, Monkey or Vi-wait, what about Shifu?"

Tigress cocked a brow. "Are you going to go through every resident of the Valley? Tell no-one. All right?"

"Right, right, yes, got it. I solemnly swear not to let a word of this slip to anyone, unless you tell me I can, on pain of being thrown down the thousand steps and left to crawl back up them alone."

The feline chuckled, nosing his cheek. "Thank you. In return, I..." Her gaze flicked to his paws, in particular the finger lying close to the belly scar. "I'll tell you the story behind a scar of your choosing."

"Ooh." Po grinned. "Any scar?"

"Any scar."

"Like this one?" He brushed the belly scar.

"Yes."

"Or this one?" The scar behind her ear.

"Yes."

"Or that one?" He pointed to the scar on her inner thigh.

Half a grin curled Tigress' lips. "You didn't touch that one."

"Course not. Going anywhere near your...uh...your..."

"Vulva."

"That...without express permission, feels pretty close to suicide."

"It would be, but in your case...slightly less so."

"You'd only break most of my bones, not all of them. Got it."

"Half of them, at most, which for me is...an unusual level of trust."

"At the risk of sounding...inappropriate...how would I earn more?"

"Keep being you."

"Po me, not Dragon Warrior me?"

She laughed. "Yes."

"I think I can do that."

"I have confidence." Tigress shut her eyes. "Now, be so kind as to seal your muzzle and let me...meditate...on these new feelings a while."

"Shutting up." Two seconds passed. "Except..."

Tigress sighed another chuckle. "Yes?"

"What about the scar story?"

She set a finger to his lips. "All in good time, Po. All in good time."