Naidvar's TiPo Oneshot Collection!

Reflexes

Ah, the sweet smell of noodles in the morning, seasoned by the wondrous whistling of the Jade Palace's resident panda and beloved Dragon Warrior. If not for the gentle breeze accompanied by the fluttering of the leaves clinging to the trees remaining as a prominent presence for the Jade Palace's lifetime, one would easily mistake his chipper attitude as being an eternal beacon of its youthful spirit. Before the Dragon Warrior came rigorous training, a need to protect those at all times and a barrage of stress... Now, all of that was still included inside of the warriors' resume except it was kickstarted with a breakfast crafted from the purity that resonated from Po's passion.

As the day broke with the ceremonious ringing of the bell in the distance droning and enlightening the warriors of such a prestigious establishment that another day of training awaited them, the entirety of the Furious Five lined up before Master Shifu as was tradition. Meanwhile, as the iconic "Good morning, Master!" echoed across the halls, Po finished seasoning his noodles with his favourite spices whilst catching a whiff of its mouthwatering scent. He stirred them around inside of his oversized pot whilst listening to the water bubble all the while Shifu's lecture resounded from the hall to his left.

"It's enlightening to see you all back at home within these palace walls. You have all certainly proved yourself through adversity, yet you cannot allow your victories to grip over you. You may have assisted the Dragon Warrior by evacuating the valley as he fought Tai Lung, you may have guided him mentally whilst confronting Lord Shen and ensured that he made it home after his confrontation with Kai but that does not mean one can relent with their training!" Po's whistling from afar made Shifu's heated message extremely hard to take seriously, especially when he had repeated the same nonsense as if he were an Erhu player cursed to play one song for perpetuity as Mantis followed by Monkey snickered. "What's so amusing to you two?"

"Oh, nothing, Master Shifu. I just heard Po whistling whilst you were talking, it sort of ruined your illusion of seriousness," Monkey chuckled all the while Master Shifu let off a disgruntled sigh. "You have a very good point. Unfortunately, I am hungry, and so I find it hard to take you serious on an empty stomach," Monkey and Shifu had established a somewhat casual friendship with one another ever since the downfall of Kai and especially after Shifu had accidentally learned about Monkey's origin story thanks to browsing the Jade Palace archives. This familiarity with one another allowed the primate to earn leniency regarding some of his creative remarks.

"I teach adult children how to do Kung Fu and expect to learn Inner Peace from the Dragon Warrior whilst dealing with your attitudes? A thousand pardons, Master Oogway, but will I ever confront this challenge and succeed with my training?" Po admittedly let off a cackle from afar upon hearing that gem slip from Shifu's lips. "What? You taught me that humour was the best way to deal with adversity? Oh, don't tell me that I am being trained by a child!"

"Ease up, Master Shifu! If there's one thing you need to learn about Inner Peace... It's relaxing and staying cool, letting the ocean of wisdom or whatever flow over you as that tension from the past vanishes like the steam of your breath on a winter's day," Po's chipper enthusiasm mixed with part of the wisdom he had obtained from studying all of those books regarding Oogway's legacy sure backed up Shifu's point about being trained by a five year old in panda fur. "I'm not exactly good at this wisdom thing, am I?"

"A little more studying and you'll be a sage, then again, you're still far from reaching the age where you earn the s... Which stands for student of life," Shifu replied, his voice grumbling down the corridor and shooting into Po's tiny ears.

"Awh, man! You're telling me I've gotta grow as old as Oogway before I get the ability to speak like a master? I can make a pretty good Oogway impression, how about I give that a go?"

"Po, please don't-"

"Shifu, my top student. Sometimes you let the storm of uncertainty whisk up your mind, unsettling it and paving way for a river to stream from your eyes. The resolution is simple... A hammock!" As if the spirit of the late Master Oogway himself was ingrained within Po's soul, remarkable voice, playful spirit and all; the Furious Five found themselves astonished at such an auditory spectacle.

"Okay... That was good," Mantis snickered all the while Tigress merely peered towards the kitchen, rolling her eyes due to growing all too familiar with Po's antics. "Shifu, Po's kind of got a point though, hasn't he? Maybe we should skip the speech for today and go eat breakfast instead, I'm starving!"

"You're always starving! You've got a bigger appetite than Po and I didn't think that was possible!" Crane's nasally voice soon quipped, which is when Shifu merely took his staff, albeit tiny in comparison to Po's jade Spirit Realm staff and gently tapped it against the creaky wooden floors three times, imploring everyone to follow him into the kitchen.

"It's not my fault that he makes some tasty noodles, am I right, Viper and Tigress?" Mantis leaned towards the two ladies of the group for support as Viper nodded and Tigress' face remained blank as she secretly wished to accompany the Dragon Warrior and assist him like she did every morning with one tradition... Readying the bowls.

"Mhm!" Viper quietly replied whilst softly nodding her head.

"One could say that," Tigress agreed, which is when she lined up at the front of the pack to greet Po as Shifu advanced to the kitchen with the Furious Five in tow.

"Good morning, Master Shifu!" Po bowed for a split-second before jumping back to tend to the wooden spoon that was teetering between complying with his demands or slipping onto the floor. "And good morning, Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Viper and Mantis! Hopefully your stomachs are ready for some mouth-watering Secret Ingredient Soup!" As to be expected, Tigress took on her silent duty of reaching into the cabinet almost as if she were on autopilot, lining them up neatly next to Po's pot.

"Oh, wonderful! My favourite! Soothes my soul and my stomach!" Crane enthusiastly remarked, his attention slipping away from Tigress' subtle tapping on Po's shoulder as a signal that she had completed a favour for him in the process.

"Thanks, Ti," The morning had been relatively uneventful up until that moment, which is when Po nonchalantly leaned in to deliver a quick peck to Tigress' cheek as he went back to paying attention to his noodles. Almost by instinct, Tigress' reflexes kicked in before she slung her palm directly at Po's chest, bringing him to the floor all the while the remainder of the Furious Five gaped their mouths in shock. "OOOH-HOO-HOO! OWCH!" The Dragon Warrior collapsed to the floor all the while the sudden eruption of drama prompted by Po's affectionate gift to Tigress left the entirety of the kitchen awestruck.

"Um. Uh, ahah... Huh. Apologies, Po, disobedient reflexes," As Po sat on the floor and Tigress held onto her vain hopes that nobody had seen the Dragon Warrior's subtle display of affection, her striped orange palm reached down for Po's paw, to which he grabbed hold of her before she pulled him up from his spot on the floor.

"No, no... It's okay, heh, I kind of deserved that. I didn't mean to- y'know-" Po attempted to stammer out his words of reasoning all whilst Tigress lowered her ears in shame. "I wanted to say thanks but-" He was later interrupted by Mantis' voice bursting his eardrums.

"WHAT IN OOGWAY'S NAME IS HAPPENING? DID THE DRAGON WARRIOR JUST- KISS MASTER TIGRESS?" Mantis exclaimed in shock as Shifu's jaw remained glued to the oak table below him. "AND DID SHE JUST... PUNCH HIM TO SAY THANKS?" Confusion reigned over his voice as the room dropped so silent to the point where even the flames heating Po's noodle pot could be heard dancing underneath their noses.

"I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner!" Viper shamelessly teased, winking at the pair of them as their cheeks grew as red as the sunset on a particularly confounding and long day.

"I think I'm gonna throw up-" Monkey, not being particularly infatuated by romance, made a break for the laventry as everyone else exchanged shocked glances. Meanwhile, the fierce alongside dominant romantic tension which filled the room could most likely detonate a barrel full of gunpowder if it slipped its way into the same room as them.

"So... That just happened," Crane awkwardly weighed in his thoughts, doing his best to take a seat all the while Tigress and Po's blushes grew in strength upon being ogled by none other than Master Shifu himself.

"How long have you two been hiding this from the rest of us?" Shifu simply inquired, his stomach proving to be a nuisance as it growled following his question. The pair of warriors found themselves frozen on the spot, almost as if they'd been reduced to stationary gemstones as Shifu tilted his head. "Really? Two remarkably trained warriors from the Jade Palace cannot answer such a simple question?"

"Uh..." Po's internal buffering lasted an eternity all the while Tigress found herself partially confessing on his behalf.

"It's a long story..." Tigress eked out, unfamiliar with this level of social peer pressure presented before her. "And that story... It- ahem. It started shortly after Gongmen..." She awaited the wrath of Shifu's anger, yet was surprised when he merely leaned back in his chair with a sinister smirk staining his face.

"Perfect! Something that can be discussed over breakfast!" Shifu cheerily responded, prompting both Tigress and Po to gaze upon one another with pensive expressions lining their faces respectively. "Oh, that's an order, too," He sinisterly added on, mercilessly piercing the newly announced couple with his turquoise gaze.

"Uh-oh..." The pair of warriors responded, making haste of their routine of serving up breakfast with their faces painted crimson all the while they prepared themselves to be subject to a torturous amount of humiliation at the breakfast table due to one simple fault... Po, Tigress and their "affectionate" reflexes.

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[The End!]