The Stuff of Dreams

Return of the Felines

Days passed on since then. Po and Crane busily worked on each other's stories. Since the panda had the most pieces in his collection, his work was usually critiqued the most. Crane liked the little club, and when Mei was there, he liked the soups and salads she made especially for him; he had a sensitive stomach. Mei and Tai-Lung mended after their little 'fight', but Po couldn't help but laugh every time he thought about it. Work was the same. Po began getting more papers to correct since Mei-Ling would ask for favors. The feline was kind and sweet, but her fascination over Boqin still baffled Po. And he was right in his suspicion between her and Tigress. The tiger was beautiful, so of course, she was the envy of the women in the office, but Mei-Ling took a great liking to Po nonetheless. With the slow changes of the office, Po almost began to forget about the tiger since she wasn't around much. One day, Po was typing away at another paper when he heard a knock at his door. He didn't even look up. "Come in."

"Do you have a minute?" Po knew that voice. He turned his head and saw the striped feline in Po's favorite dark maroon suit. 

"Oh! Tigress! Yes, yes, please come in." Tigress closed the door and sat down in the chair. Her hands were folded on her lap with both feet firmly planted on the ground. "Are you okay?"

"I... I think so," Tigress sighed and then smirked, "You're getting much better at telling my moods." Po nervously laughed. "I wanted to come and say that... I'm sorry for avoiding you for the past few weeks." 

"It's okay, most women avoid me anyway."

"Po."

"I'm kidding," the panda lightly laughed. "It's okay. I told you, you can have all the time you need to heal. I'm sorry if I came off as nosy or pushy."

"You didn't." The tiger gazed out his window before sighing deeply. "I broke up with my boyfriend." 

Po blinked several times. "Hm," was all he said. 

"Really, that's it?" Tigress asked.

"To be honest, I... don't know how to react to this. I mean, I'm so sorry you had to go through that," Po said. "Bao-Ai, right?" Tigress rose her eyebrow. "I remember you called me that name." 

"Right. He and I decided to break up." Suddenly, Po remembered the talk they had about her boyfriend and the advice he gave. His hands grabbed his head.

"Oh no! Did I cause you guys to break up because of my stupid advice?! I knew I shouldn't have-"

"No, no, no," Tigress said, "In fact, that's why I avoided you. I didn't want you to think you caused it." 

"Oh... Then what caused it?" Po asked.

Tigress sighed, "Bao-Ai is very sweet and loving, but he and I just weren't compatible. We were great as friends, but when we started dating, things were just... different. I felt like I lost a friend instead of gaining one." 

"Are you two still friends?"

"Yes, we managed to salvage that friendship, but it was hard," Tigress replied. "And I didn't want you to feel like you had to isolate yourself from me either."

"Why?" 

"You're a great person, Po. And you're not afraid to speak to me." Po rose his eyebrow. "Men here seem to be on two sides of the spectrum. Too arrogant like Boqin or too shy."

"Like me?"

"No, you actually talk to me like I'm more than a pretty face," Tigress smiled warmly. 

"But I guess the women around you don't like you?" 

"That would be correct, even though I don't know why," Tigress sighed. 

"Insecurity," Po said. Tigress tilted her head. "You're beautiful, Tigress. Women, or at least the women here, seem to envy that." 

The tiger sighed again as she looked out the window. "If they only knew how much I wish I was just like them... normal." 

"I'd give up on that," Po said, glancing at his computer screen. "You either lose yourself trying to be like everyone else or you infuriate everyone else by being yourself. People aren't gonna like you." 

"They seem to like you," Tigress pointed out.

"I'm adorable," Po smiled, making the tiger chuckle. "I guess people just like my reaction to things," Po smiled. "Wait, why are these things piling up like this? Darn it, woman, no one told you to make this many mistakes." Tigress chuckled at the sight of the panda scowling at his computer. Her eyes spotted a journal on the top of his desk. Po saw her hand but was too slow to grab it from her. "Wait- I uh-"

"You write too?" 

Too? "Yes, yes. I actually just finished this class for creative writing. I've been writing for a while."

"It can tell. You have some amazing ideas in here."

"I didn't know you write," Po mentioned. 

"Well, poems really."

"It's still writing," Po said. Tigress smiled, giving the panda his journal back. 

"Thank you, Po. I really appreciate you helping a stranger."

"Hehe," Po chuckled from a deeper part of himself; a part he never really explored before. "Ms. Fang, in some weird way, I don't feel like we're strangers at all." 

"What do you mean?"

Po shook his head a bit coming out of a daydream. "Nothing, just a little loose in the head." Tigress smiled. "Hey, it's about lunchtime, did you want to-" Before he could finish, his cell rang. "Hello? Monkey, hey, this is a..." Po stood up. "When," He said in a seriousness that alerted Tigress. "Where are you now? Okay, I'll be right there. Wait, he's bringing you here? When?" It was silent for a moment. "Good. I'll finally get to end this." Po hung up and glared at his phone, tightly squeezing it. "Darn snow leopard."

"Is something wrong?" 

"Boqin's accused my friend of stealing company money and the police are involved." Tigress shot up from the chair. "He's coming here to plead his case to Mr. Wang so he can incarcerate him."

"What are you going to do?"

"Get to Kai first."

"You're gonna need evidence, and I'm not sure if I can persuade Mei-Ling to give you anything regarding her star," Tigress said. 

"And nothing I say will make a difference," Po sighed, "But we have to try. Can you stall Boqin downstairs for me?" Tigress nodded and quickly gave him her phone number. "Thank you." They rushed out the door, and Po got into the elevator.

"What's your plan?" Tigress asked.

"I'm gonna do what I do best," Po smiled as the doors began closing. "Tell a story." 

To Be Continued...

A/N: To answer some of the people's questions about the previous chapter, it wasn't a shot at my audience but an actual depiction of what goes on in a writer's convention. I was not trying to say anything about you guys.