Lion's Oneshot of Kung Fu Panda Oneshots

To Be A Friend

Po was sitting in his room, listening to the rain outside. It was a very depressing mood for the day. It also made it hard to stay awake. The rain always made him sleepy. That's why he was in bed, he couldn't really stay awake. He would slip in and out of consciousness from time to time. Just then, Tigress came into the room. "Sleepy?" Po only yawned to the question. "Yeah, the rain makes everyone sleepy and tired," Tigress stated.

"It is pretty, though," Po mentioned, "After the rain, the world looks so much brighter and the colors look so much deeper." Po yawned again. "And the panda seems all the more tired." Tigress gave a small smile. "Why did you come in here, though? Did you need something?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you knew where Crane was?" Tigress asked. "He was supposed to be back by now." Po shot up awake.

"You mean he's still not back! That can't be good," Po said worriedly.

"I'm sure he's fine," Tigress said calmly.

"Ugh! No wonder it's raining. It always rains when someone's heart broken," Po said, getting out of the bed.

"Po, what's wrong? What's the matter with Crane?" Tigress asked. Po looked at her for a while.

"Do you promise on your warrior's honor that you won't tell Crane I told you?"

"I promise on my honor."

Po sighed. "You know that pretty bird that came into the village several months ago?"

"Ayu the peacock? Of course, we saved her and her cart from bandits. She and Crane are good friends, why?"

"Well, Crane has had a crush on her ever since they first met," Po said. Tigress's eyes widened.

"And he was going to tell her today?" Po nodded. "What makes you think he got his heart broken? The weather has no correlation with love life."

"Yeah, but it's a bad omen," Po muttered. Just then, they both heard the door of the barracks close. "It's Crane! Quick! Get to your room and act normal." Po hastily pushed Tigress out of the room and into her own. Po went to the kitchen where Crane was sadly eating some leftover dumplings. "Hey Crane," Po said cautiously. "How are you doing?"

"You don't have to act like that, Po," Crane said weakly smiling. "I'm doing fine. I just need a breather." Po sat down next to him.

"How did it go with Ayu?" Po asked. Crane sighed.

"I told her that I had a crush on her and that I wanted to go out with her. She was silent for a while then she said that she really just wanted to be friends with me. She let me down easy, I appreciate her for that. In the end, I agreed to be just friends with her and we spent the rest of the day like normal friends."

"That's it! You're just going to be friends. You're not going to break up after this. I mean, not that you guys were in a relationship but don't you think it will be... awkward?"

"It was awkward a bit, but we still had fun," Crane smiled a bit.

"But why just be friends? Why not go looking for another? Why would you stay friends? I mean, if I were in your situation I think I would want to be as far away from the person as possible to forget them," Po said honestly. "I mean, I not saying I would be mean to them but-"

"I understand what you're saying Po. Let me explain," Crane sighed. "Sometimes, it's better to be a friend than to be a dating partner. With a good friend, your guard is usually down and you trust them with almost everything. With a dating partner, it's like hiding behind a mask and then slowly removing it over time. Sometimes, they completely remove the mask and it sometimes scares the person away. Basically, I can do more good being a friend than being a dating partner. Sure there's closeness in the dating spectrum, but being friends also comes with that intimacy as well, sometimes more. And besides, I would have to be her friend even if we became more."

"What do you mean?"

"When in marriage, many young people say it's like being married to the love of your life. But with older couples, they'll say it's like being married to your best friend. And that's the thing. When we date we tend to focus so much on the passion and romance that we forget about the other part of it which includes understanding and friendship. And that is difficult to do sometimes."

"How so?"

"Well," Crane continued, "Sometimes your loved one annoys you. Other times, they seem to have no flaw. The person hasn't changed, your emotions have. It's hard to bond many times with another person. There will be certain things that you don't like about the person. Like with you and Tigress, you don't like how she overworks herself."

"She's going to hurt herself doing all that training. I just know it," Po commented.

"See, and that's a quality of a worried friend. Wanting the best of the other. I'm sure that Tigress hates it more when you're sad than when you eat everything in the kitchen," Crane smiled. "The point is that sometimes we need friends instead of lovers. Even in marriage we are once a passionate lover and twice a friend. One time before marriage and the rest of the marriage after the honeymoon phase. Sometimes, it's better to be a friend." Po rested his hand on Crane's shoulder.

"It still hurts, though," Po said. Crane sighed.

"Yeah, it still hurts," he replied, "but with friends like you, it will definitely hurt less," Po smiled widely.

"I'm sure you'll find your 'special friend'," Po said, getting up and going out of the kitchen. Tigress was leaning on the doorpost waiting for him.

"Is he going to be okay," Tigress asked. She didn't show it very well, but Po knew she was worried.

"He'll be fine," Po said.

"Well, I'm going to workout," Tigress said. Po was silent for a moment then spoke up.

"Tigress," He called. "If you need a sparring partner, I could help." Tigress seemed surprised.

"Really? You're usually the one advising me to take a break from training," Tigress said.

"It's because I don't want you to overwork yourself. I worry about you," Po said honestly. Tigress smiled as she hugged the big panda, greatly surprising him.

"I worry about you too," Tigress said. "Come on, I need a punching dummy," She smirked. Po smiled back. Crane was right. It's sometimes better to be a friend.

The End

It has come to my attention that I have done a disservice to you guys. I have just realized that most of my stories are romances. This is okay for most but not to the one who has just suffered a breakup or something like what Crane just went through. I'll try my best to write more nonromance based KFP fanfics. I'll still write those love stories, but I'll try to appeal to the love-torn demographic. ;)