The Countdown

Hearts beating loudly

Tigress woke up the next morning with butterflies in her stomach. She had gone to bed the night before trying to get Po out of her mind, only to get vivid dreams about being beside him and being comforted by the peach tree. (Which Tigress, as much as she hated to admit it, enjoyed a lot). The master groaned and sat up, stretching her arms out and then leaving her room. She walked out of the barracks where her friends laid sleeping and proceeded to head to the kitchen. In two days, her time of resting from training would be over, much to her relief, and she would be back sparring with her friends with various weapons. Tigress actually felt like she hadn't been doing much training lately. To her, a week felt like five years and she didn't want those "five years" to not be worth anything.

Besides, she thought to herself. Some long meditation and hard-core kung fu will put my brain back where it should be.

She went into the kitchen in order to make herself a small cup of tea, only to be greeted by Po who had been crossing by the doors to grab some spices on the opposite shelf.

"Po?!"the master exclaimed in surprise as Po stopped short of bumping into her. "What are you doing up this early?"

"I can't sleep," Po admitted sourly, walking over to grab the jar he needed. "I'm still not used to my dad dating Scorpion. I mean, she hasn't done anything bad as far as I'm concerned, but it still makes me uncomfortable that she's here freely roaming around the valley."

"I can understand," Tigress told him. She walked over to the counter to grab some tea as Po came back over and tended to the noodle soup on the stove. "But if Scorpion is planning anything, we'll be ready for her. There's no need to worry."

Po sighed. "I know," he grumbled, stirring the noodles. "I'm trying."

Tigress waited for the teapot to boil and looked at him in concern. Her stomach fluttered a bit, irritating her to no end. Stop it! This is your friend! Don't you dare do anything stupid!

"Something else is bothering you, isn't there?" she asked him.

Po bit his lip and glanced around the kitchen. He then leaned into Tigress and said in an undertone, "Promise you won't say anything to the others?"

"My lips are sealed."

"I'm a little afraid they might get married if things get too serious."

The master eyed him in surprise. "What's so bad about that?" she asked.

"It's just...it's always been me and dad. I barely remember my parents, and the only mom I've known sacrificed her life for mine. So...I don't know...the idea of possibly getting a new mom who was once an old enemy of mine who also tried to kill me at one point...that doesn't agree too well with me. I've tried getting along with her the last time her and dad dated, but then she tricked me into eating a moon cake and she almost killed all of you!"

The Dragon Warrior moodily added in some more spices and Tigress gave him a gently squeeze on the shoulders. "Things can change, Po," she reminded him. "And sometimes those changes can be hard. Like when you first moved into the Jade Palace. Remember how I treated you when you officially moved in?"

Po grinned. "Of course not," he replied. "I had to stay on bed-rest for two days because you beat me up so hard during the sparring."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's okay. You weren't very happy with me being here. Probably because I took "your" title."

"Exactly," Tigress said. "To me, you seemed like competition and everything you did seemed to leave me in the dust. You changed everything in this temple. Everyone seemed happier and more willing to relax instead of seriously train. I mean, even Shifu seemed happier. I didn't want you ruining anything that we've worked so hard to do because I didn't want the rug swept out under me."