Let's take a breather from the Rag Doll. This silly oneshot came to my mind when I was writing the first chapters of Blushing like an Idiot. xD I know, I could have given it a better title...
I don't own any of KFP characters or locations.
The Dragon Warrior and the Five were training in the Training Hall, as every midday. Po was beating the wooden crocs with a smile on his face. He felt incredible strength soaring within his body, as his moves quickened, his fists were punching the wooden devices or he deflected the hits with his open palms: he was no longer that panda who had got beaten up by the Hall itself.
"Excellent, Po!" Shifu shouted to him from the distant part of the Hall. The Master was delighted to see the panda's wonderful progress.
Po stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He had been feeling great since Weimin. They had met a few weeks ago in the marketplace in the village when Po was buying fresh vegetables for his dad. His paw landed on a particularly ripe eggplant, at the same time when a large rhino placed his hoof on it. The rhino only blushed as he saw the panda and gave him the eggplant saying: "Here, Dragon Warrior, I don't need the best ones." They had been meeting ever since, by an 'accident' or just to talk, but they both knew, that there was something more between them. Their meetings became real dates and Weimin insisted to move their trysts to more secluded places, so no one could see them. Weimin was very shy, he was always so uncertain kissing Po and the panda loved it about him.
"You can take a short break Po, you're doing well today." Shifu said, walking up to Po.
The panda smiled, still panting. "I don't need to, I still feel so much power in me."
"You're meeting him again, aren't you?" the red panda eyed him carefully. Po was rather... special. This whole thing with Weimin was very doubtful to Shifu. Since when was the Valley of Peace a home of so many strange individuals? He couldn't even think what he would do if someone hurt Po.
"Tonight." Po affirmed.
The red panda furrowed his eyebrows. "Po.." he began to catch the student's full attention. "Please, don't do anything stupid." he said when Po was listening to him. Po nodded in affirmation, although surprised by his master's request. The red panda looked at his students leaving the hall in order to eat something and rest for a moment. "I'm going to meditate." Shifu said in his usual tone and walked away, heading towards the door.
It was late evening and Shifu lay in his bed, although he couldn't even close his eyes. He should be asleep by now, so he wondered why he wasn't. Of course, he remembered. Po has gone on a date. Hmm..
Some noises got his attention. Someone was running towards his chambers. His ears turned to the door and suddenly Crane dashed straight into his room, without knocking.
"I'm sorry, Master Shifu. Po has returned from the village and it seems that something... happened there." the bird said in a very alarmed voice.
"What happened?!" the red panda asked, jumping out from his bed and putting on his brown robe hastily.
"We don't know, he's just sitting in his room and crying, he doesn't want to talk with us."
Shifu grabbed his green sash and tying it around his waist, he ran with Crane to the barracks.
Upon entering the building, he instantly heard the panda's sobs, the rest of the Five was standing in front of his room, no one had been let in. The warriors were shocked and disorientated.
"Leave the barracks." Shifu ordered in such a tone that the warriors obeyed without any hesitation only eyeing one another worriedly. In a few seconds, they were out and Shifu knocked on Po's door quietly.
"Panda?.." he asked softly. "Let me in."
"NO!" the student answered crying.
"Po, this building belongs to me, so does your room. May I enter?"
What?.. Shifu asked himself in his mind, he knew that it was a really stupid reason to demand letting in, but if it could work...
"If you want to."
Shifu pushed the door and found the panda lying in his bed and crying into his pillow. The master approached him and sat down beside his student. He laid his paw on his arm and asked. "Po?.. Tell me what happened, please."
Po was sobbing so much that he couldn't even breathe, but he knew that they would not leave him like that alone. "I d-did... something s-stupid!" he sobbed out.
Shifu's paws shook; whatever the panda had done, it must have been very... intimate. "Tell me everything. It will help you." Shifu whispered.
"H-he lied to me... he s-said that I sh-ould prove m-my love." the panda sobbed, feeling like the worst bitch in the whole world. "I d-didn't want... b-but I did w-what he wanted, because I thought I really l-loved him."
Shifu placed his paw on his face and felt his fingers bend into a fist.
"When w-we f-inished... he star-ted to laugh and ot-her rhinos appeared. And they said that Wei-min won the b-bet, he had scored the D-dragon Warrior." Po finished. "And t-they gave him money. And I just r-ran away."
Shifu paced the room hastily and exited it, slamming the door shut. "Idiot!" Po heard Shifu's shout reverberating through the corridor, after the red panda's leaving.
He started to cry even more, knowing that he had allowed to disgrace his title, his master and maybe his whole Palace. Shifu surely hated him for that. Po cried into the pillow, feeling his pain slowly go away. At least now everyone knew how stupid he was.
Two hours later, Po was lying in his room, hoping that his friends were asleep. He had stopped crying almost an hour ago and assured Viper that he felt better; now he was more frightened by what he had done and what had happened. He heard a quiet noise; someone entered the barracks. It couldn't be Shifu, he had left the barracks so mad...
Po decided to check the source of the noise. He left the room, trying not to make the floor creak, and walked up to the next corridor. A light was spilling out of the kitchen, someone was in there and was... washing his hands? Po looked at the red panda standing on the kitchen stool, washing his hands in a bowl of cold water. Po approached the master and saw that Shifu's robe, his hands and even his face was soaked with blood. His heart almost stopped.
"Master, what hap-" Po cried out shocked, but Shifu cut him short calmly.
"It's not my blood."
"Then whose?..."
"Weimin's... and his friends'." he answered.
Po looked at the red panda stunned. "How did you find them?.." he whispered.
"You said that they had given him money. So where could they be? In that cheap, dirty tavern of course." the red panda explained as if it was so obvious. "Don't worry, Po. They will never try to repeat what they did, and they won't even think of taunting you again."
Po took a clean cloth and soaked it with the cold water. He touched the red panda's face with it and washed the blood off his fur. Shifu took off his robe and exasperated by the stains, he threw it into the bowl. He was still dressed in his sleep robe. When his hands were clean, he turned around and jumped onto the floor.
"Come with me." he said to Po and they went outside. Po was so ashamed of his stupidity that he didn't say a word. They entered Shifu's room and the red panda sat down heavily in his armchair beside the table.
"There's a bottle of alcohol and two cups." he said, pointing at the distant corner of his room. "Pour us some."
Shifu's fingers hurt terribly, it had been a long time since he had beaten up a rhino and he had managed to forget how hard bodies they had, their faces and horns especially. Fortunately the cold water lessened the pain a little. Po poured the alcohol into the two cups he had laid down on the table and Shifu bolted down his drink immediatly. Po drank his drink too. It had a strange taste, he was sure he had never drunk anything so.. delicious. It tasted like some exotic fruits he had never even seen, the alcohol was strong, but he didn't feel bad. "Are you hurt?" he asked quietly.
"No.." Shifu examined his hands in the dark. "At least not as they are."
Po lowered his eyes. He should have done that what Shifu did for him, instead of running away like a girl. "I'm sorry, Master. You were right calling me an idiot..."
The red panda looked surprised by his words. "I wasn't talking about you." he said and took his little cup, but put it down back on the table. "Screw the cups." He took some sips from the bottle. Now his pain wasn't even a problem.
Po drank a little too after the red panda had put the bottle down. He couldn't really hold his drink and everything was swimming in his head and before his eyes. "But I am an idiot. You warned me..." he admitted.
"Po.." the red panda began and got up off the armchair. He approached Po, but the panda was rather too big to tell him something. He returned to his armchair and pulled it closer to the panda. Now he climbed up the piece of furniture, trying not to fall. When he stood up on his armchair, he caught Po's big face with his small paws. "It wasn't your fault. You made a mistake because you were in love, but they did something much worse." he said very seriously, looking deep into the green eyes. His left paw started to stroke Po's cheek gently. "But the next time.. you'll be wiser."
Po nodded very slightly in an answer and felt Shifu's thumb sliding over his lips. The red panda's face was closer... Po wasn't sure where this all was going and suddenly their lips met and Po closed his eyes, sighing through his nose. He didn't know why Shifu was kissing him now, but he embraced the master pulling him even closer to feel safe, he was sure that he wanted that kiss and returned every caress he had received from the red panda.
Shifu pulled himself away slowly, Po saw some fear in his eyes. "I'm sorry." he whispered, jumping off the armchair. He didn't want to hurt the panda.
"Master.." Po began looking at him, but he didn't know what to say. He wanted to stop him and talk about what had just happened between them, but then Shifu spoke.
"Go to sleep and don't worry about what happened." Shifu said quietly, standing with his back to Po. He meant that painful event in the village, not their kiss, but it didn't come to his mind how Po could understand that.
The panda sighed sadly, he walked up to the door, trying to keep his balance and after another longing glance towards the small panda, he left the room. He wasn't thinking of those rhinos anymore.
(A.N.) Oh lol. Poor Po fell out of the frying pan into the fire xD I don't know where I get these sick ideas.