An Itchy Situation

Po and Tigress tried their best not to cook at the same time. Po, Mr. Ping, and Tigress all agreed it was best that they cook on different days to avoid unnecessary arguments. The group, save Tigress, ate breakfast at the table. Shifu glanced at two particular people sitting across from each other. Tai Lung, eating very upright and properly, glared at a sour-looking gray fox that munched on her food with frightening speed, much like Po. The red panda sighed, rubbing his temple as he finished his food. "I'm off to meditate."

"Master Shifu, why do you always do that?" Mantis asked.

"Do what?"

"Go meditate whenever there's something uncomfortable happening." The munching and clanks of chopsticks stopped. Everyone stared at Master Shifu in silence.

"Finally someone said it," Po mumbled from his pot-stirring.

The red panda rose his eyebrow. "I didn't know that this was something... well-known."

"It's... been noticeable ever since we came here," Viper said.

"And you rarely did it when I was here," Tai Lung added. The entire table had their eyes on him, awaiting his answer.

Shifu cleared his throat. "I... suppose it is a kind of... coping mechanism. Master Oogway would often meditate whenever he was confused or didn't know what to do."

"Or when a panda upsets the balance of everything?" Po asked. The eyes shifted to him. "What? It's not like I don't know what I caused."

"It's... more of a habit," Shifu replied.

"Does it work?" Crane asked.

"Well... ever since Po came... no."

"Master Shifu!" Po grumbled.

The red panda smiled, "I'm sorry, Po. You have had an... interesting effect on our lives."

"Uh huh. That's a nice way of saying I messed up things."

"You did," Viper said plainly, shocking everyone.

"Well dang Viper," Mantis exclaimed.

"But it's kind of like... you knocked down the house of cards we thought were stable."

"That's... better," Po slowly smiled. Shifu decided to take his leave before any more questions were asked. That's when Tigress came in, taking a deep breath. "Oh! You're back. How was the breakfast run?"

"Decent, I guess. I'm... uhhh," Tigress buttoned her lips together and looked away from the group. The quietness of the room only pressured her to say something soon as every eye fell on her. She sighed, "I... saw Lin and Lei Lei playing with each other... I'm starting to think Po is right. We shouldn't treat the child any differently. He has a good heart."

Tai Lung eyed her suspiciously. "Why do you say that?"

"He nearly made a mess trying to help Mr. Ping serve tables. And... he gave Lei Lei a little flower to apologize for getting her in trouble."

"Awww that's so cute!" Viper squealed.

"It's enough to make someone vomit," Zhen muttered. The tiger's glare shut the fox up quickly. "Uh... So Po! This food is pretty good!"

"Thanks," Po chuckled at the fox's tactic. "Just my father's noodle soup. Nothing special."

"I have to say, Po. With as much as you deal with food and noodles, it's surprising that you don't constantly smell like it," Tai Lung mentioned, eating the last bits of his bowl.

The room suddenly grew cold. Po's back fur stood on end as he shivered. "Oh no." He gulped. Tai Lung and Zhen looked at each other before seeing the Furious Five stare hard at Po. Even Viper's friendly head turned to a suspicious almost venomous glare. Monkey's jovial smile vanished and Tigress's eyes... just squinted as she crossed her arms.

"Is... everything okay? Why did everyone get serious?" Zhen chuckled nervously.

"Tai Lung asked a very important question," Crane said in an unnaturally probing and firm manner. "Po used to smell like noodles all the time when he first came here."

"We thought we got used to the smell. But when Tai Lung pointed it out, we realized that wasn't the case," Viper hissed.

"And he doesn't smell at all when he trains," Monkey mentioned. "Even Tigress sweats when she works out."

"So," the tiger gently growled, "What changed?"

Po's back was still facing them. He didn't dare move. He calmly tried to keep stirring the pot. "I... I don't know. Mountain air... I guess?"

The tiger sighed, walked over to the panda, and stopped his stirring hand. "Po, what is it? What happened? With all you do, it's not natural that you don't smell a little."

"Come to think of it," Viper said, "I can't even pick up your scent, and I'm a snake. What exactly are you doing?"

Scratching the back of his head, Po sighed and turned to face everyone. "When... I first became Dragon Warrior, they took me to the Hall of Heroes. I was soooo excited to see everything there!"

"That's when the-"

"Don't mention the Urn, please," Po interrupted Crane. "Anyway, Master Shifu and I met there."

Viper tilted her head. "He... never mentioned how it went between you two. I imagine it wasn't good."

"What did he say?" Tigress asked.

Po sagged his shoulders, "He said... among other things... that I shouldn't come close to him because he could smell me from where he stood. After that, I started taking a lot of baths. Whenever I'm down by my dads', I usually have them wash my clothes and stuff."

"What clothes? You only wear pants," Mantis muttered.

"Yeah, but I have a lot of these burlap pants and they all need to be washed to get the noodle and sweat smell out. And yes, all of them have patches, rips, and tears. Soooo I... wash myself and my clothes a lot because of that."

"I... see," Tigress sighed. She pulled out a scroll from her back pocket and scribbled something down.

"What's that?"

"The running list of things I thought I knew about you."

"Tigress!" Po groaned. "It's not that bad."

"It's bad enough that it makes me wonder if I still have my itching powder," Monkey murmured.

"Why?"

"For a little revenge. I didn't know Master Shifu told you that," Monkey sighed.

"Po, why do you choose to be the good guy, again?" Zhen asked.

The panda rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright. Yes, it's very sad, but I've gotten past that."

"Not if you're smelling fresher than everyone here," Mantis said.

"Could we just please... drop it?" Po sighed. The room entered another round of silence. As time slipped by, the warriors left, one by one, leaving Tigress alone with the panda as he washed dishes. She quietly approached him, resting her hand on his back while his eyes tried hard to focus on the dishes. He side-glanced her smile and his hands stopped, letting the dishes get covered by the warm soapy water. "Why is it that the more you guys learn about my life, the more I feel like you pity me?"

"It's more guilt than pity, Po. We never knew the kind of trials you went through. The ones you continue to go through." She smiled. "It's not a weakness to share your hardships. It's a strength. You taught me that."

Po chuckled, "And yet I know less about your dating life than everyone here."

Tigress chuckled back. "Well, there's a lot to learn about each other. I'm sorry we were so mean to you. And I'm sorry about-"

"It's alright, Tigress. It's all water under the bridge. Besides, between you and me, the noodle smell was getting to me, too. It's nice to be the one with the best hygiene for once."

"Pride comes before a fall," Tigress smirked. The panda waved her away with his smile and refocused on the dishes. She simpered a bit and walked away.

Later on in the day, Tigress and Crane began sparring in the Training hall. The bird zoomed over the tiger and slammed his foot to her right side. She ducked and kicked at his torso, causing the bird to fly back. Slamming into the pillar, Crane launched back at her, snipping her with his wing. Jumping over him, she kicked his leg this time. It spun the bird off kelter, and he tumbled into the ground. Crane rolled up to his feet and stopped the tiger's powerful punch. He dodged left and jumped from a low leg sweep. Before he could touch down, Tigress, still low to the ground, flung her foot up, and struck a blow to his belly. The poor bird was sent careening up into the air. Tigress jumped up and used both her feet to punt the bird straight over to the wall where Zhen and Tai Lung watched. Crane's body lay in a clutter of sticks and training weapons that fell on top of him while his eyes tried their best to focus on the multiple spinning tigers checking his vitals.

"And that, fox, is what happens when you rely too much on your natural abilities," Tai Lung mentioned as Tigress helped Crane up from his wreckage.

"I'm... I'm just not used to Tigress's new style," the bird countered.

"That wasn't her new style," Tai Lung muttered. Just then, Po came into the Hall with a little panda by his side. The little girl ran up to Master Tigress and immediately hugged her leg. Smiling, Tigress lifted Lei Lei in her arms.

"So... how was work?" The striped feline grinned.

Po pouted and crossed his arms. "Fine. Lin wasn't there, so there's that. But I wanted to talk with you guys. I checked with Mantis, Viper, and Monkey and all of them came up clean."

"On what?"

"Master Shifu was complaining about his clothes itching and Monkey said his itching powder was missing," Po muttered, making everyone's eyes go wide. "Anyone care to explain?"

"I didn't do it," Crane opened his mouth. "I've been in the Training Hall the whole time."

"I can vouch for half of that time," Tigress said, glancing at Zhen and Tai Lung.

"Don't you dare think about it," the snow leopard growled, "If I were to pay Shifu out, I would fight him, not resort to little pranks."

All eyes turned to Zhen. "What? I don't even know where Monkey has his itching powder," The fox yelped. "You guys are just blaming me because I'm the new girl."

"Yeah, but I also know you," Po replied. "Tigress, shake her."

"Wait, what AHHHHHHHHHH!" Zhen yelled as the large feline picked her up and shook her around. Several things fell from her tail, but none of them were itching powder. "Ahh, dang it."

"Well, now I know where Dad's mahjong tiles went," Po murmured. "Come on, Zhen. I thought you were better than this."

"It's a force of habit!" Zhen whined. Lei Lei giggled.

"Hmmm, well I'll leave it for now, but I'm serious guys. You don't have to terrorize people just because they call me names," Po said.

"What was it you said to the Emperor?" Tigress smirked. "We're family. We take care of each other."

"Shifu is family," The panda argued.

"Just because he is family doesn't give him an excuse for his actions," Tai Lung replied. Po sighed. He couldn't argue with him. He was right on a different level.

The panda gave a small smile and chuckled, "Well, thanks... even though I don't know who did it."

The four of them bowed and went back to training. Po couldn't stop the smile creeping onto his face. In many ways, his family would turn on each other if one was unjustly hurt, regardless of status. One might question whether it was disrespectful, but with this team, they cared more about each other than status.

Continued...