Wild's Short Drabbles

Just Curious

Prompt: Nu Hai is curious

Po frowned as he watched Nu Hai sitting by the river, papers scattered in front of her. She scribbled on her papers, trying to come up with a plan to stop Empress Xiao from abdicating the throne to Shi Long. Po had allowed the young warrior to take charge of the situations more often now. He trusted that his students were soon not going to need him to go on missions anymore. It kind of broke his heart that he was going to have to let them go someday but Shifu had told him that was the part of being a teacher.

This mission had been specially good to see them in action to act on their own. Po believed he taught them well. At least well enough, he still wasn't one-hundred percent sure he was a great teacher but at least he was better at it than he thought. He watched as she drew plan after plan frustratingly. Po smiled slightly seeing how much she was like his best friend, Master Tigress. He remembered when the two of them went on missions together and Tigress would grow frustrated when she couldn't think of a plan.

Flashback

The two warriors had gone off on a mission to retrieve an ancient scroll that had come into the hands of a group of bandits. Tigress had been trying to think of a plan for the two of them to sneak into the hideout for what seemed hours.

She growled as she rolled up another piece of paper and grabbed her head. She was growing frustrated and her head was beginning to hurt. The feeling of Po's paw on her shoulder caused her to look at him.

"Just take a deep breath." Po smiled softly. "You got this." Po's soft smile made her smile back at him before she turned to the plans in front of her. She took a deep breath and relaxed, Po's paw not leaving her shoulder.

"I got it!" Tigress exclaimed a few moments later, picking up three different pieces of paper. Needless to say that the two warriors had been successful that night.

End of Flashback

"No. No!" Nu Hai tossed another paper aside as Po walked over to her.

"Hey Nu Hai?" Po walked up behind her calmly.

"It's no use Master Po!" Nu Hai cried. Po rubbed his head, unsure how to approach her. "I'm out of good ideas!" She rambled. "Maybe it was just a fluke that all those other plans worked anyway. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this. Maybe..." Nu Hai buried her face in arms. Po kneeled behind her and placed a paw on her shoulder.

"You know who you remind me of?" Po smiled. Nu Hai looked up at him, twiddling her fingers in thought.

"You?" She asked. Po scoffed with a laugh.

"No. Tigress." Po smiled sitting beside her.

"I do?" Nu Hai looked at him excidelty. He knew a lot of the young pandas had taken a liking to Tigress rather quickly when she arrived. Who could blame them? Tigress is awesome.

"Yeah." Po nodded. "She would stress out about coming up with plans too." He looked up recalling the many times he saw Tigress lose her composure. He was usually the one who went out and spoke with her to calm her. "But they always worked. Eventually she learned to stop stressing." He smiled. "Me. I'm more of a act before I think kind of guy. A fly-by-the seat-of-my-burlap-pants type. A pantser, if you will." He chuckled. "That's why Tigress and I made such a good team." He smiled, looking at her. "Just like you and me."

"Wow, Master Po. That means a lot" Nu Hai smiled. "I mean, Tigress is my idol!" She exclaimed happily, shocking the poor panda teacher. Tigress? Like he gets it but like....he's right there.

"Oh...um...ouch." Po frowned. "Okay well...good feedback."

"Oh! I got an idea!" Nu Hai grabbed a blank piece of paper.

"Yeah, I'm sure Tigress would be proud." Po leaned against the rock with his paw holding his head. "If she were here. Which she isn't." He looked over at her, being distracted with her work. "I am, though. But she's the one who taught you kung fu...oh wait, that was me." Nu Hai chuckled and looked at her master, realizing she kind of hit him in the heart when she mentioned Tigress is her idol. She didn't lie though. Tigress is awesome.

"Master Po, can I ask you something?" She looked at him curiously.

"Is it about how you idolize Tigress?" Po responded with a bit of sarcasm.

"No." Nu Hai laughed. "Do you ever miss her?"

"What do you mean?" Po looked confused by the question.

"When Master Tigress arrived in Panda Village, you two seemed really close. Do you miss hanging out with her?" Po smiled sadly.

"Honestly, I kind of do." He sighed. "Tigress and I used to do everything together. Train, eat, shop, clean. You name it. We were always together." Nu Hai smiled. Her master had a certain type of spark in his eyes. "She was going to come with me to Panda Village to bless the peach statue but unfortunately she had to go on a secret mission with Viper."

"What secret mission?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret anymore." Po chuckled. Nu Hai chuckled as well before frowning.

"Have you ever thought of going back?"

"Not yet." Po smiled down at her, washing worry away. "You kids still have plenty to learn. But soon you will be old enough to go on missions on your own. The Furious Five went off on their first mission when Tigress was just sixteen. Considering she's the youngest, that's pretty young to let go off on their own." Po smiled. "But they already were a strong group."

"You think we'll ever be like the Furious Five?"

"Oh no." Po laughed. "No one will ever be like the Furious Five."

"Oh." Nu Hai slumped in her seat.

"Hey, that's not a bad thing." Po encouraged. "No one will ever be like anyone else. You can't be anyone else but yourself. When I train you, I can't train you into me, I have to train you into you." Nu Hai raised a brow. "Trust me it's a lot less complicated than it sounds."

"It doesn't make any sense."

"Over time," Po patted her back. "It will. Make sure to catch some sleep before the morning, okay?" Po stood and began to walk away.

"Wait Master Po, I have one more question." Po turned to look at her. "Are you and Master Tigress...you know...courting?" Nu Hai smiled excitedly. Po smirked and turned to leave.

"Good night Nu Hai."

"You didn't answer my question!"

"And it shall remain unanswered!" Po laughed, disappointing the young panda.

At least he didn't say 'no'.