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Hosting a celebration in honor of the defeat of Kai the Collector in the newly rebuilt Jade Palace did not bode well with Shifu when Po had first brought up the idea over dinner. The red panda had turned down the idea almost immediately, stating that something would be either broken or stolen. Tigress had agreed with Shifu at first, but Po, much to Shifu’s dismay, had somehow convinced Tigress over the course of a day that a celebration was a good idea. He had also argued that a celebration was in order considering what everyone had just gone through.
What the panda had told her to change her mind, Shifu would probably never know; he’d always known his adoptive daughter to be stubborn beyond belief with what she wanted or didn’t want. On the other hand, Po tended to have that type of effect on the people that he came into contact with, so it was rather difficult for the red panda to be too surprised.
When Po had asked her to dance during the celebration, Tigress had half-expected an awkward and semi-uncomfortable excuse for a slow dance; not to mention that Shifu, her father figure and lifelong teacher, would be in the surrounding area to witness it and would most likely be watching the Dragon Warrior’s movements like a hawk. With this in mind, the tiger was more than surprised when Po suggested that they obtain some privacy by going outside.
After somehow sneaking the two of them past Shifu, or so it seemed, Po settled on a spot just adjacent to the opened doors of the palace, out of the line of vision of anyone attending the gathering. Whether it was for his sake or hers, Tigress wasn’t sure; quite possibly for both. Despite Po’s carefree nature, he wasn’t blissfully unaware of the fact that both he and Tigress had certain standards to meet, one of these standards being something along the lines of rules regarding fraternizing among peers.
“Okay, so, uh,” tentatively placing his left hand on her waistline, Po gently took hold of her hand with his, holding his arm out slightly to the side in order to lead the dance. When Tigress ultimately settled her hand onto Po’s upper arm, Po asked, “You sure you're okay with this?”
“It’s dancing, is it not?” Tigress replied, her amber eyes uncharacteristically darting around the two’s surroundings.
She was, for the rather lengthy amount of time in which Po had been her friend, never one to avoid eye contact. When he had asked her about it, she told him that it was unprofessional. That said, her seemingly anxious behavior was more than odd.
“Yeah,” Po responded half-heartedly whilst beginning to lightly sway to the slow, faint tune that the erhu player in the gathering produced.
The instrument was reciting a tune that Po couldn’t quite put a finger on in a beautiful combination of notes. The song was familiar, despite Po’s failure in putting a name to it. The song sounded elegant, the tune dancing through the air in invisible swirls of sophistication and beauty. The flowing melody of the erhu filled the warm air with a strong sense of déjà vu, and the peculiar familiarity of the tune was somewhat frustrating. Despite this, the piece was certainly moving, to say the least.
“Still, I know you’re not a touchy person. I don’t hold that against you, obviously, I’m just making sure—"
“Po,” Tigress interrupted, her voice speaking his name with care and affection, as per usual. “You asked me to dance with you, and I said yes. Believe it or not, I know what dancing to slower songs entails.”
Looking up to meet her best friend’s gaze, she found herself losing the battle to a subtle smile that began trying to worm its way onto her face. Po’s eyes had had that effect on her for quite a while, she noticed; something about them was eternally calming and thrilling all the same.
The entire atmosphere had an air of elegance to it. The golden light from the inside of the newly rebuilt Jade Palace was being projected into the night, the royal indigo sky was sprinkled with lustrous stars, the silvery shine of the crescent moon was prominent, and there was a pleasantly warm summer breeze that caused all of the long grasses and loose tree branches in the area to sway peacefully.
All of the scene’s natural beauty is accompanied by the gorgeous melody of the erhu, adding a strong sense of romance to the scene. The dim light cast across Po and Tigress from the rice paper sections of the Jade Palace walls also added to the dream-like ambiance that surrounded the scene. It all had an orange glow to it, almost as if an artist had layered a normal painting with thin sheets of red and gold-tinted water, just enough to give the artistry a certain mood to it.
Po hugged Tigress slightly closer to himself, bringing his outstretched arm closer to his body. Tigress reacted to this action with a somewhat nervous inhale, but she showed no indication that she was uncomfortable.
An affectionate smirk was very apparent on Po’s face as he murmured, “Are you blushing?”
Tigress frowned lightly at the amused glint in Po’s jade eyes. He was trying to get a rise out of her, and she knew that. She had gotten used to his endless antics over the years, despite how much she originally hadn’t wanted to indulge.
“No,” she muttered somewhat defensively, a small frown still apparent on her face.
Her smile returned, however, when an idea came to mind. Slowly sliding her hand to Po’s shoulder, she pulled herself closer to him somewhat. A sudden surge of confidence motivated her enough to allow her head to fall against his chest.
Without doing so much as peering at Po’s face, she declared, “You are.”
The panda simply chuckled in response, briefly glancing to the ground in slight embarrassment in an unsuccessful attempt to hide the raging crimson blush that was indeed growing on his face. The sound of Po’s laughter soon faded, sooner than Tigress liked, and it didn’t take long for the atmosphere to become one with a slight air of awkwardness. After the scene finally went silent, with an exception for the music emanating from the Jade Palace, Tigress’s vision briefly drifted to the ajar doors of the Jade Palace. To her relief, no one was in sight.
The two masters swayed blissfully to the music for a few moments, simply savoring one another’s company and presence. Every once in a while, Po would let his vision drift across the horizon of the Valley of Peace, his eyes taking in the beauty of the mountains that reached into the clouds, seemingly touching the stars. From the mountain ranges, Po’s eyes would then stray to the palace, the structure looking no less breathtaking than it had been before Kai’s assault. Once Po was satisfied with admiring the palace’s complicated architecture and intricate symbols, patterns, and markings, he would allow his vision to roam to Tigress.
“You look beautiful,” Po suddenly spoke, resting his cheek onto the crown of Tigress’s head with little hesitancy.
The tiger whispers a confused thanks, soon followed by saying, “I’m wearing the same thing I do on any other day.”
“Doesn’t make it any less true,” he replied, a light smile adorning his features. He suppressed a chuckle as he heard Tigress let out a short sigh.
Lifting her head from its place on Po’s chest while opening her eyes, Tigress found herself once again gazing into a familiar shade of emerald green.
“You’re a piece of work, you know that?” she smiled earnestly as she spoke, her tone was laced with warmth.
Emulating the tiger’s smile, Po responded, “Yeah, I guess I am."
In the tender and fairly intimate moment, Po’s eyes visibly darted to her lips before returning to her bronzy orange eyes. Her eyes widened slightly as the action was immediately clocked by the tiger, causing her to inhale sharply. The ending of the song was brought to Po and Tigress’s attention as the notes began to noticeably slow and grow more withdrawn, the graceful sound of the erhu fading into the night. Gazing into Tigress’s eyes, a familiar yearning began to creep its way into Po’s chest.
As their rhythmic swaying gradually slowed, imitating the pacing of the music, the sense of familiarity of their relationship was suddenly washed away as his grip on her waist and hand slightly tightened, he was pulling her closer to himself, and he was leaning towards her, planting a light, gentle kiss on her cheek.
Her face felt as if it were on fire, and the place where his lips had been was tingling with nervous warmth. The kiss was quick and light, but it had happened. She couldn’t describe what she was feeling at that moment with a word that wasn’t something along the lines of unfathomable shock. It wasn’t a negative feeling, per se, but it was certainly unexpected.
Po wasn’t doing much better, as he was beginning to regret his decision; the entire thing had been done on impulse with little consideration for later consequences. Actions committed impulsively still weren’t out of nowhere, he supposed, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt and irresponsibility that was slowly expanding through his chest, anxious thoughts developing within seconds. At that moment, he would’ve bet good money that he just ruined his friendship with her. If not completely obliterated, critically damaged in a way that it would take years for them to go back to normal.
"Sorry—I should've—I'm sorry."
“What was that?” Tigress whispered, her voice almost breaking from the sudden rush of emotions that began to flood her mind, sweeping away a lot of common sense and logicality along with them.
“Was it okay?” Po asked in return, following it up with, “With you, I mean?”
A brief moment of silence ensued, allowing Tigress to think about the situation at hand. She knew what he was asking, and she would most likely regret it tomorrow, but she couldn’t stop herself from nodding. A little too quickly, perhaps, but she doesn't care to ponder it further. He gives her a look—a questioning look that asks for her permission to go further—and she nods again.
"Can I—?"
"Yes," she replied.
His lack of experience was apparent, and Po began to lean down toward his best friend for a second time. He closed his eyes and she followed suit as their minds began to fill with static.
Tigress had hardly felt his breath against her face before a loud and familiar sound interrupted the potential kiss.
A familiar goose's voice shouted in a happy tone, “Po!”
Tigress pulled her face away from Po’s, looking toward the direction in which the voice had come from, then back at the panda with a questioning expression on her face. Po simply winced at the sound of the voice, silently praying that Mr. Ping wouldn’t decide to search the outside of the palace.
Another voice, the voice of his biological father, spoke up much more powerfully than the last voice, “Lotus, are you out here? Your fathers are worried, we haven’t seen you for a while!”
Upon walking around the side of the opened doors, Li immediately stopped talking. The sight in front of him took him by surprise, to say the least.
“Oh!” he exclaimed. He was visibly amused, clearly trying and failing to suppress his amused chuckling.
Mr. Ping wasn’t too far behind Li, as he walked into sight soon after the older panda. Upon gazing at his son and Tigress, a small smile of satisfaction presented itself on his features.
“Well, it’s about time,” he muttered. In a low voice, he added, “Li, I believe we have somewhere to be.”
“Oh! Yeah, uh, we do!” Li exclaimed.
He nearly tripped as he turned around and retreated into the palace semi-frantically, followed by a much more collected and calm goose, leaving Po and Tigress in silence. The two masters were too stunned and embarrassed to speak, simply staring at the now-empty area with wide eyes. Po wanted to shrivel up into a ball as he listened to the receding voices of his fathers engaged in conversation.
“What did I say?” he heard Mr. Ping ask, “What did I tell you just yesterday?”
“You were right, I get it,” Li replied.
"His heart has been with Master Tigress from the moment he met her. A father knows," Mr. Ping boasted.
“I’m his father, too," Li argued.
The rest of the conversation was unable to be heard by Po and Tigress, who were frozen in their dancing position. Pulling away from each other rather quickly, the two were speechless. They stood beside each other in stunned silence, their mouths slightly ajar in sheer surprise and shock.
“That was humiliating,” Tigress said after an agonizingly silent pause.
“I am so sorry,” Po breathed, his face flushed with embarrassment. “I promise, I’ll talk to them once everybody leaves. Oh, gosh, Tigress, I’m so sorry. If I’d known that they were going to come looking for me, there’s no way I would’ve even thought of—!"
“Po, it—it’s fine,” she said. When the panda didn’t look convinced, Tigress placed a hand of reassurance onto his shoulder. “Truly.”
“I am so sorry,” Po reiterated, his eyes filled with guilt.
“Please stop apologizing,” Tigress told him in a more serious tone. When Po briefly opened his mouth to speak but closed it, the tiger sighed lightly. She reassured him, “It's alright.” Po nodded after a moment, a tingle of guilt still hovering in his chest. With an affectionate smile, she asked, “Do you want to go back inside?”
His thoughts were racing so quickly, it was nearly impossible to answer in a way that wasn’t pure gibberish. Whatever had just happened could hardly qualify as a kiss, and yet he seemed to be incapable of forming words at that moment. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what state he would be in if his fathers hadn’t interrupted when they had. He would most likely not recover for at least a day.
With a smile that held more behind it than words could ever express, Po replied, “Lead the way.”