A/N: I decided to write a new story since Memorial Day's coming, but this has nothing to do with memorial day. I'm just using that day to ask a question, do you remember me? I've been gone for so long from January to May, and I'm not getting as much reviews on my stories as I used to...do you remember me...anyone? My story Rudolph Returns hasn't been getting much reviews at all as the first one, Po meets Rudolph...do you remember me? Just enjoy the story please. I don't own KFP.
A forgotten birthday
Chapter 1 – A forgotten birthday
We're all born on a specific day, we don't know when we're gonna be born, because we don't exist before we do know when we were born. I'm talking about the birthday, a special day celebrating when you were born by your family, friends, and loved ones. Yes, birthdays are special days, spending time with loved ones on your special day, enjoy a slice of cake, scoops of ice cream, and other goodies. Just don't eat too much or you'll get sick (LOL). When a birthday's over, you can always look over the happy day, and look forward to your next birthday, but you must also enjoy other people's birthday before your next one arrives. Why am I talking about birthdays? Well, in Ancient China, at the Jade Palace, it was a few days before Po's birthday, and he wanted to let Tigress not to forget since she's so hard at training for a lot of the time.
It was a beautiful morning in the Valley of Peace, everyone's out living their peaceful lives, kids are playing, and customers are dropping by Mr. Ping's noodle shop to get some noodles to slurp. At the Jade Palace, our beloved panda, the Dragon Warrior, and his heroes the Furious Five are hard at training as usual. But Po has a special day coming up in a few days. That's right, Po's birthday's in a few days, and he's excited. Inside the training hall, Monkey and Crane are sparring with staffs while Viper tests her flexibility in the Fiery Field of Death, while Mantis and Po go through the Wooden Gauntlets. Tigress, she's doing pushups, she's done 100 so far, and she's sweating. Po punched his way through the gauntlets and Mantis came out from behind him.
"You're getting better, Po," Mantis commented as he hopped onto Po's shoulder.
"Heh, heh, I try my hardest," Po said as he slightly panted.
Po smiled at Mantis as he went to go get a quick drink of water. As he walked, he thought of the excitement of his birthday, spending time with his friends and his dad. He does like getting gifts, but he doesn't take gifts as the main point of his birthday, he just loves having a day off of training, spending time with his friends and father. He poured some water into a cup and began to drink it. As he drank it, he saw Tigress doing her pushups. He smiled, he walked over to her and stood beside her.
"Hey, Tigress," Po said in a happy tone.
Tigress slightly grunted as she did her pushups, now 116 she's done so far, "Hi Po." Po drank the last of his water and put the cup away.
"You know," Po said with a smile, "I just thought I'd let you know my birthday's in a few days, and I'd just love to spend time with you and the others.
Tigress grunted, "Sure Po, sounds nice." She stood up and began to walk outside to train by herself.
"Okay, Tigress, I'll talk with you later," Po said with a smile.
Tigress nodded as she headed out the door.
The next day, Tigress is doing some exercises with some nunchucks, she did all kinds of kicks and made awesome hits with the nunchucks she had. Po came out, he smiled and he was practically giddy when he saw Tigress doing her "awesomeness." He walked over, Tigress didn't see him and she accidentally hit him with a nunchuck.
"Owww!" Po groaned as he fell, holding his nose.
Tigress looked and she sees Po holding his nose in pain, she put the nunchucks away and helped him up.
"Are you okay, Po?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Po assured her, "I guess I got too into the awesomeness."
Tigress slightly rolled her eyes, "So, what do you want?"
"My birthday's the day after tomorrow, I just wanted you to know that I'm looking forward to spending time with you," Po replied with a smile.
Tigress began walking away, "Okay..."
Po began getting giddy again, he's so excited to spend time with his friends and father. The next day, Po's in the Hall of Warriors, he's so excited, and then...SMASH! He broke the Urn of Whispering Warriors...again.
"Uh oh..." He said dryly, "I'm dead..."
"Did I hear something?" said a feminine voice.
Po's ears perked up, he whirled around to see Tigress standing there with her arms crossed, she narrowed her eyes at Po.
"Please don't tell Shifu!" Po begged, he bent down, "I can fix it!"
He began fiddling with the pieces of the broken Urn, but he found no way to fix it. Tigress sighed again, a bit annoyed at Po breaking the Urn again. Po looked up at her.
"Please don't tell him!" Po begged.
"Sorry, it's my duty," Tigress replied.
Po sighed, knowing he'll get some extra training later today. He wanted to remind Tigress of his birthday again, but he decided not to since he has already reminded her twice.
"Fine," Po groaned, not wanting to get in trouble again, but he has to fix his mistake and face the consequences.
The next day, the day Po's been waiting for, his birthday, he's so excited about today, mostly about spending time with his friends and dad, that's what he considers his birthday's about, not about presents and cake, but time with friends and family. When the morning gong rung, Po woke up late...again, and when he came out of his room, believing to be dead by Shifu again, his friends were standing at the end of the hall.
"Happy birthday!" they all shouted in succession.
Po jumped, but then he began laughing, his friends except Tigress got in a group hug, his friends began telling him things like "Happy birthday" and Mantis said "Nice to see you living to see another birthday." Po looked at Tigress with a smile, she smiled back at him.
"Happy birthday, Po," she said with a smile.
Po broke free of the group hug and hugged Tigress, much to her shock, but she hugged back. Her friends' eyes slightly widened at the sight, but then they smiled. Tigress and Po broke free and the female tiger shared a smile with Po.
"Hey Po!" Viper said happily, "I made you breakfast for your birthday!"
"You did?!" Po exclaimed happily, "That's wonderful Viper!"
"Let's go eat!" Mantis exclaimed as he dashed out of the hall in front of the others.
They all began walking while Tigress was at the rear, she felt guilty and had a bit of a guilty look.
I forgot his birthday, she thought, How could I forget?
She looked straight ahead and sees how happy Po is with his friends, she didn't want him to know she'd forgotten his birthday!
I'll just act natural, if I act like I know it's Po's birthday, it won't be ruined, she thought.
Now Tigress thinks birthday are a time of just cake, presents and goodies, she doesn't know the true meaning of a birthday, for she's never had a birthday party before, unlike Po. When they arrived in the kitchen, there's a bowl of noodles for everyone, sticky dumplings, milk, and bean buns.
"Wow!" Po said in a happy tone, taking it all in, "This is awesome, Viper!"
"Thank you," Viper said in a sweet tone.
Po looked at his friends and they shared smiles, Tigress smiled to hide her guilt. As they all sat down and began to eat, Shifu walked in.
"Happy birthday, Po," he said with a smile.
"Thanks Master Shifu," Po said as he smiled.
Shifu smiled as he sat down, the party's in 30 minutes, Po's excited about it, but Tigress can't help but feel guilty about forgetting his birthday. After they had a wonderful meal, and an occasional joke from Po that made them laugh while Tigress smiled, Mr. Ping arrived.
"Happy birthday, my son!" he exclaimed happily, "Oh, jolly day! My boy's growing up!"
"Dad," Po said, slightly embarrassed, but with a smile on his face.
Po and Mr. Ping hugged one another, when they broke apart Mr. Ping said, "I've brought cake and ice cream!"
"Awesome!" Po said happily.
"And we've brought you candy to go with it!" Monkey said happily, putting his arm around Crane.
"Yes, we did," Crane said with a smile.
"Thanks guys," Po said as he smiled, "I love having friends like you."
Tigress felt even more guilty after he said that, if she had done something for him...if only...what kind of friend is she? Her thoughts anyway. After more eating, and Mr. Ping embarrassing Po, it was time for the party to start. When they entered a room that's mostly empty for a lot of the time, but sometimes used on special occasions, there was a chocolate cake with Po and the Furious Five on it, including Shifu and Mr. Ping. There's chocolate and vanilla ice cream arranged in a bowl to form the Yin Yang symbol, plus some candy added by Monkey and Crane.
"Whoa! This is awesome!" Po exclaimed in a happy tone.
"Glad you like it, Po," Mantis said with a smile, "I hope you'd like the ice cream formed into the Yin Yang symbol, my idea."
"And it was a great idea too!" Mr. Ping exclaimed.
Po looked at Tigress, "Isn't this great, Tigress?!" Tigress held her guilt and smiled.
"Yes, it's wonderful, Po," she said softly with a smile.
They all sang the Happy Birthday song and began to enjoy cake and ice cream, Tigress held back on the cake and ice cream some since she's always trying to keep her figure hard and ready for fighting, and Po understood.
Now, it's time for presents.
"Hey, Po, how about some presents for your birthday?" Viper asked as she smiled.
"Presents?" Po asked with a smile, "Oh, you shouldn't have!"
"Oh, we insist! We love celebrating one another's birthday," Monkey said happily.
Po sat down in the middle of the floor while Tigress had a guilty face, she wished she'd not forgotten Po's birthday! Monkey went first, he gave Po some new staffs a copy of his recipe for almond cookies, and the limited addition action figure of Po.
"Aw, thanks Monkey," Po said with a smile, "But this is too much."
"Nah, it's all good! All good for you, Po!" Monkey cheered.
Po chuckled as he hugged Monkey, Crane went next and he gave Po instructions on how to do calligraphy, two tickets to the Carnival next week and some money to spend at the Carnival.
"Aw, thanks, Crane ol' buddy!" Po said happily as he slapped Crane's back.
"No problem, Po," Crane said, Po accidentally hurt his back, but the avian didn't want him to know.
Viper went next and she gave him a red ribbon, a gold one, and a black and white one. Then she gave him 50 Yuan to spend it on what ever he wanted. Po hugged her and thanked her for her gift. Mantis went next, he gave Po 150 Yuan, much to the panda's surprise and delight and he gave him some important medical notes.
Tigress let Shifu go next, her friends suspected she had a great gift for Po, but she was biting her lip in guilt as she tried to hide it. Shifu gave Po a golden cape with Chinese characters spelling out "Dragon Warrior". Po thanked him for the gift as his dad gave him a hug and the limited additions of the Furious Five.
"Wow!" Po exclaimed happily, "Awesome, Dad! These things are hard to get! How did you do it?!"
Mr. Ping laughed, "I would do a lot for my boy. Even if I had to travel across China to get those for you and to spend...a lot of money."
"Oh, so that's why you were gone for a week," Po said, teasingly.
"And Po had to work the whole week," Monkey chuckled.
"And don't forget when he..." Mantis started.
"All right, Mantis!" Po said, annoyed.
Monkey and Mantis laughed at the memory, while Po slightly blushed. When they were finished laughing, everyone noticed Tigress hasn't given her gift yet. She's so lost in her thoughts on how she could've forgotten.
"Tigress," said Shifu, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Uh...yes?" she asked.
"You haven't given Po his gift yet," said Shifu.
Tigress knew this was it...she was about to be found out. She looked at her friends, and they were waiting for her to give it to Po. She looked at Po and he looked slightly confused. Her guilt is killing her.
"Tigress, did you forget?" Shifu asked
"Uh..." said Tigress, "Uh...no...I just left it at..."
"Tigress, did you forget Po's birthday?" Viper asked.
"Uhm...no, why would I..."
"Tigress," said Shifu.
The guilt is overwhelming now, she thinks Po won't treat her as a friend, but as a monster who doesn't care. She sighed, expecting the worst.
"I...I forgot..." she whispered.
Her friends slightly gasped. Po was slightly disappointed, but he doesn't need presents to have a good birthday. Tigress felt ashamed, she felt like a monster who doesn't care for his birthday. Before Po could say anything, she just left the room.
"Tigress..." Po said.
Shifu sighed, "I'm sorry, panda. I'm sorry she forgot."
"But I don't see my birthday as getting presents," Po explained.
"Well, what do you see it as?" Shifu asked.
"Well, birthdays are about spending time with friends, family, and loved ones. I just enjoy being with y'all," Po explained.
Shifu nodded, and then Po asked, "Can I go talk with her? To let her know I'm not upset with her?" He hoped to hear a 'yes' from Shifu.
"Go ahead," Shifu replied, "She needs to know."
In her room, Tigress shut her door and sat down on her bed, feeling ashamed for forgetting Po's birthday. He's a great friend to her, and she forgot his birthday.
How could a friend forget a guy like Po's birthday? She asked herself, I guess he'll see me as a monster now...
She recalled Po reminding her during training, those thoughts now came back to her mind. She slightly felt like crying, but she held them back. She could do nothing but feel the guilt creeping through her.
Knock, knock
Someone knocked on her door, she slowly looked up.
"Tigress, it's me Po."
Oh boy, she feels guilty, and fears she'll be rejected from his friendship with her.
"Tigress, I want you to know that I'm not upset with you. I don't see my birthday as presents, cake and goodies. I'm here to explain that to you. I understand if you don't open up, but I just wanna talk with you," Po explained.
Tigress began thinking, Po's not angry with her it sounds like. But could it be a trick? She doesn't know if he's pretending not to be angry, but knowing Po, he's not told a dirty joke, he hasn't treated her like a monster, he's caring, and is always there for his friends in need. She did let him know she was there for him back in Gongmen City, so...she stood up and began walking to the door. She opened it up and had a slightly guilty look on her face when she faced the panda.
"Oh, good, I thought you wouldn't answer," Po said with a sigh of relief.
Tigress sighed, "Look Po, I'm sorry I forgot your birthday."
"It's okay, Tigress," Po replied as he put his hand on her shoulder, "I don't care if you got me a present or not."
"You don't?"
"No," Po said with a smile, "I've got a great friend who's awesome in kung fu, and you're fun to be around."
Tigress slightly scoffed, "Me? When am I fun to be around? I'm just a boring Tigress who likes to do kung fu."
"Oh, come on Tigress," Po said, "You and I do have good times like during the Winter Feast, you were smiling and laughing some of the time. What about during the festivals? You smile a lot. Tigress, you're not boring, I like being with you every day."
Tigress couldn't believe her ears, no one's said anything like that to her, "Really? People just see me as a monster, and they don't want to hang with me."
"But I do. You're fun to hang out with, no matter what. It doesn't matter if you got me a present or not. All I want is to spend time with you and the others. That's what I think my birthday is really about."
Tigress smiled, Po loved to see her smile.
"Thanks Po," she replied.
"No problem," Po replied, "It's what friends are for."
Then Po hugged Tigress again, shocking her once again, but she returned the hug as she smiled. But she still felt like getting Po a present.
"Come back to the party," Po said as he pulled away from her, "It'll be fun just to hang out with you."
Tigress smiled, "Let's go then." They shared smiles with one another as they began walking back, but Tigress still wanted to get Po a present. She knows to take his advice, but to be a good friend, she decided to go to the Valley after the party to get him a present.
When she got back to the party, Shifu saw that he and her made up, Po explained what he thought about his birthday, and his friends couldn't agree more. While no one was looking, Tigress went to Viper and whispered.
"I'm gonna get Po a present after the party."
Viper smiled, "Good luck." With that, they got back to the party.
A/N: I was planning this on being a one shot, but I decided to add two more chapters to this...please don't be a silent reader...tell me what you think...