Sleeping Together

"Well, this is weird," Po said to himself. He was on the floor with something slender, warm, and orange next to him, looking at the ceiling like he was. A... a mishap with some bandits attacking the Jade Palace grounds had left much the Jade Palace under construction. The problem was that Tigress's room and Viper's room were completely destroyed. Instead of figuring out places in the village to stay, Viper proposed that they stay with their teammates, Viper with Crane and Tigress with, you guessed it, Po. Everyone knew that Viper and Crane weren't in a relationship so it wouldn't be weird with them. Tigress and Po, on the other hand, no one was certain. They were of course friends, but certain incidents caused the team to think they were more. For example, every time Po had to go somewhere, Tigress was with him. Everytime Tigress was training, Po would spar with her. They didn't have as many arguments as they did when Po first came here. They talked to each other a lot more comfortably. Yet, there were times when Tigress would come from training and Po would leave for no reason. And there were times when Po was doing some heavy lifting for his dad and Tigress couldn't look him in the eye. The relationship between these two was very weird and sometimes really confusing. Friends of course, but how much so?

So they were sleeping together, on the floor anyways, and they weren't asleep. Picture being in Po's shoes for a moment. You're sleeping next to one of your great friends, alone, with none of your other friends around to make it less weird, neither of you are asleep, and the awkwardness of the situation is growing. Not only that, this is only the first day. The girls' rooms wouldn't be ready to sleep in for another two weeks. This would definitely be a weird sleepover. Po gave a great sigh. "I can't do this," He said under his breath. He slowly got up to go to down the mountain and go to his father's shop. Then he suddenly felt something grab his hand. "AH! Something's got me!"

"SHHH! It's just me," Tigress whispered.

"Oh, sorry, forgot about that," Po replied. He hadn't really forgotten about it. He just didn't expect her to grab him.

"Where are you going?" Tigress asked curiously. Po was silent for a while.

"I'm going to sleep at my father's shop. It's... too awkward between us for either of us to sleep," Po said.

"You don't have to go down the entire mountain to go to sleep. I'll just sleep on the Hall of Heroes floor. I've done it before."

"No, please stay here. The floors there are cold and hard. The wood here is easier on the back." Tigress sat up and crossed her arms.

"It seems we have reached an impasse. You can't go down the mountain and you won't let me sleep on the floor at the Hall of Heroes," Tigress said. "So, we have to learn how to sleep with each other." Po was nervous when she said that. "Po, we've slept together before, what's so different about this?"

"That's because we've slept with the others. This is the first time I've slept with a girl alone before," Po said, looking away. He was immensely embarrassed. Tigress gave a small smile.

"You'll get used to it," Tigress encouraged. Po sat back down on the floor. "Why don't we just talk for a while? That way we may fall asleep."

"That's not going to work," Po simply said.

"Why not?" Tigress asked.

"Because your stories and life story are all interesting. I would have a hard time sleeping," Po replied. Tigress smiled at this. "Me, on the other hand, all I've ever done is make noodles. Other than being the Dragon Warrior, my story would bore you to sleep."

"I don't believe that," Tigress said.

"How come?"

"You're more interesting than you may think, Po. There's something about all of us that is different from each other. Some may think that their lives are more interesting than others, but everyone's life has something worth living for," Tigress replied. "So, who are you?"

"I'm Po?" The panda replied unsure about the question. Tigress shook her head.

"No, I mean, what makes you... you," Tigress explained.

"Oh, I... I know every Kung Fu battle, master, and fighting style."

"No way," Tigress said, not believing him. "Everyone?"

"Pretty much."

"Viper's Gu Chi Sling Whip?"

"Yep."

"Master Cobra's venom technique?"

"Of course."

"Master Oogway's Thunder Punch?"

"Like the back of my hand," Po said.

"Wow, you really are knowledgeable. Why is that?"

"Because after I found my love for Kung Fu, I studied everything about it. Technically speaking, I know almost every single one of the 10,000 scrolls," Po replied.

"How? That collection is only accessible by the Jade Palace."

"Yeah, but people hear about it. I know them. I didn't say I could do them."

"Wow, see there's something that we don't know about you," Tigress replied.

"What about you?" Po asked.

"Me?"

"There's got to be something that no one knows about." Tigress was silent for a while.

"I... I use to dress up like Master Shifu when I was little," Tigress confessed as she looked away embarrassed. Po's eyes widened and his mouth curved into a half-smile.

"Really?" Po asked.

"Yes," Tigress replied plainly.

"What else?" Po asked.

"I don't think I'm comfortable with talking about more of it."

"Okay, so... what do you want to talk about," Po asked. Tigress looked at the ground for a while. She was beginning to regret this decision.

"I don't know," Tigress confessed.

"Have you ever dressed up like anyone else?" Po asked. Tigress rolled her eyes.

"No."

"Not even Oogway?"

"No, well. There was that time with Oogway," She said, looking on the floor confused.

"What happened?"

"I was cleaning the Shield of Master Gong. It accidentally fell on me along with other things. When I got up, Oogway somehow mistook me for a... female turtle," Tigress said. Po's eyes popped open.

"You're kidding," Po replied.

"No, he then tried to hit on me. It was only until I told him who I was that he laughed it off and felt embarrassed. It was definitely weird."

"Not really. The Shield of Master Gong is kinda shaped like a turtle," Po argued. "Anyways, that's interesting."

"Po, let's go back to you. You practically know everything about me," Tigress said. Po thought about it.

"I know a girl named Aklia," Po replied. That definitely shocked Tigress.

"Oh, and how do you see her?" Tigress asked.

"She's just a friend," Po answered. "I guessed that since you haven't seen her that it was something interesting."

"Po, I believe that you have more interesting things about you that you just don't realize you have," Tigress said. Po finally yawned.

"Well, I'm actually getting a little tired. Why don't we get some sleep," Po suggested. Tigress nodded.

The next morning, Po got up early. This is unusual because Tigress usually gets up before him. Po got up from his mat and looked at Tigress sleeping on her left side towards him. She had a smile on her face. It was anyone's guess as to why she was smiling in her sleep. Po just shrugged it off and began getting ready for the day. Before he could even get up, he heard Tigress mumble something in her sleep. "I love you, my cuddly panda," She smiled still asleep.

Whoa. First, Tigress was dreaming about him. Second, Tigress had confessed that she loved him in his sleep. Though Po wanted to believe it, there were also a lot of pandas now in the Valley of Peace. It could have been anyone. Po decided to get to the bottom of the situation, but before he could, Tigress woke up. Po retracted his hand and stood up looking at the door. Tigress hadn't seen Po move and just got up to see the panda's back. "Good Morning, Po," she said.

"Go... Good morning," Po stuttered. Tigress could sense the nervousness in Po's voice.

"Po, are you okay?" Tigress asked. Po turned around and gave Tigress his nervous sheepish grin.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Po replied. Tigress wasn't buying it. She stood up and placed her hand on Po's head.

"Well, you're not sick. What's wrong, panda? You're more nervous than last night," Tigress said. Po sighed. He might as well come out with it.

"Tigress, there's a question that I want you to be plainly honest with me. I don't want you to hold back or even run away from it," Po conditioned.

"Okay," Tigress said, thinking it was just a simple question.

"Do you like someone?" Po asked. Tigress's ears dropped at that point.

"Do you mean... in a personal intimate kind of way," Tigress clarified. Po nodded. Tigress sighed. "Yes, I do."

"And is it a panda?" Tigress's head snapped up.

"How did you know?" She quickly asked.

"You said, 'I love you, my cuddly panda' in your sleep," Po answered. Tigress blushed, making her orange fur redder. "Who is it?" Tigress looked at Po confused.

"You mean, you don't know who it is?" Tigress asked. Po sadly shook his head. Tigress actually smiled. "It's the person I've given my first kiss to." Po was confused.

"And who was that?" Before Po could react, Tigress quickly kissed him on the lips.

"You," Tigress answered. Po stared at her with wide eyes.

"Awesome," Po celebrated. Tigress just grinned and smiled.

"But next time, can you please not listen to my sleep talking. What I may say might... disturb you a bit," Tigress replied.

"How so?"

"You don't need to know. Well, not yet anyway," Tigress smiled. She had big plans for the future.

The End