The Stuff of Dreams

A Long Lunch

"And he just came out with tears in his eyes?" Tai-Lung asked. Mei nodded. "But he apologized to you again."

"Yes. I'm worried about him," Mei sighed, looking back to her work at the papers. Tai-Lung rested his hands on her shoulders. 

"He'll be okay, Mei. I think he just realized something big about his writing career. It'll be fine, I promise."

"I hope you're right," Mei sighed, rolling her shoulders back with some difficulty. 

"You could use a break as well." 

"I'm not as obsessive as Po," Mei replied. "I've just been looking for another job."

"What about the interviews you've been taking?"

"They haven't called me back," Mei grumbled. Tai-Lung rubbed her shoulders, pressing his fingers into the sore nub. "Ahhh, yeah, that feels better."

"I'm glad that I can help," Tai-Lung said with an easy smile. Mei immediately relaxed into his massaging. "I guess that book on massage was worth the money after all."

"Mmm to the right a bit," Mei said. "Oohh right there." Tai-Lung smiled more, but suddenly he stopped. He shook his head, ripping his hands from the panda. "Tai, is something wrong?"

Tai. She already had a nickname for him. "No, no, I... I just have to get back to work." He would have dashed out the room had Mei not caught his hand. 

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"No, don't go doing what my brother does. Please tell me what's wrong."

Tai-Lung had grasped his head like it pained him. Slowly, he straightened back up, not facing Mei yet. "I just... I forgot myself for a moment. I didn't mean to violate our professional relationship. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Tai, I didn't-"

"Please, don't call me Tai," He grunted. Mei felt a shiver down her spine. "I'll... let you go back to work." 

"Yes, Mr. Tai-Lung." With that, the snow leopard left the room. Mei tried to focus on her work, but somehow she felt a huge punch to her heart. Suddenly, she got a phone call from one of the people she interviewed about a possible job acceptance. 

Meanwhile, Po was walking around his apartment when there was a knock at the door. When he opened it, his eyes jumped out of their sockets. "Tigress?"

"Hello, Po. I was just... making sure that you were okay. Viper said you weren't coming in because of a rough patch?"

"Yeah, I've just been a little... emotionally worn down and I needed the break," Po sighed. He was in a plain black shirt with some gray sweatpants. "But yeah, I'm fine."

"Good, good," Tigress said. Po looked at her hands that held a small bag of food. 

"Oh! Did you want to come in and have lunch? I know it's a short time to-"

"I'd love that," Tigress smiled. Po smiled back and they ate, side by side at the kitchen island. Po gave Tigress some of Mei's cooking, which the tiger immediately loved. "Po, your sister's cooking is sensational." 

"Hehe, thanks. She's really something," Po grinned. They shared a pleasant moment of silence to eat before Tigress spoke up again. 

"So... what was the rough patch that you told Viper about?" Tigress asked. Po leaned back, but nearly fell when he remembered he was on a stool. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah! Just forgot a bit. Uh... well... okay. How do I explain this?" 

"Just start at the beginning."

"The beginning is... a lot," Po replied. "And I don't think you have the time for me to tell you."

Tigress smiled as she rested her elbow on the kitchen counter. "I have time." So the panda told her all that happened. Everything: the dream with the tiger, the mugging, meeting Tai-Lung, "defeating" Boqin, and the next dream he had. To say the tiger was intrigued was an understatement. She sat there, almost entranced by the stories, and when Po finally finished telling her everything, she asked, "So what do I... I mean, what does the tiger represent?"

"Hm?"

"I mean, you asked Tai-Lung how to catch a feline and you figured it out, unfortunately," She said with a small huff that made Po nervously chuckle. You would be hurt too if a stereotype predicted your actions accurately. While this stereotype wasn't derogatory, it did make it seem like cats were like children. "But what did the tiger represent? What did she tell you?" 

Po smiled warmly, "She said... she was my dreams." 

"So what are you going to do?" Tigress asked. 

Po smiled wider, placing his hand on the counter. "Chase my dream with the people who want to chase with me. I know they have their own dreams, but still. We can help each other together." Tigress placed her hand next to Po's on the counter. His eyes widened and looked at her gentle smile. 

"I'm glad," She said. Just then, the door opened up and Mei came in. "Oh! Hello." 

"Hellloo," Mei stumbled. She blinked several times. "I'm sorry, I didn't think Po's dream tiger was actually real."

"MEI!" Po shouted in embarrassment, making Tigress laughed. "She's my co-worker, remember?"

"Oh, right," Mei shrugged off, putting her coat up. 

"Anyway, why are you home so early?" Po asked. Mei looked at him with a raised eyebrow. 

"Po, it's 5:00 pm." Both the tiger and the panda looked at their phones. 

"Whoops, lost track of time," Po chuckled.

"I bet," Mei mumbled with a smirk. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Tigress. I'm Mei, Po's sister."

"It's nice to meet you, Mei. Po hasn't really said much about you." 

"Interesting," Mei said, "Tai-Lung said the same thing when we first met," Mei glared at her brother. "Is there a reason why you don't tell people you have a sister?" Po shrugged. 

"I should get back to the office to get my things. I'll tell Viper to dock my pay," Tigress said. 

"I'm sorry for spending your lunchtime," Po replied. 

"It's okay, Po. I really enjoyed your stories. Did you say you were working on a book?"

"Two, actually. I just finished the other one and I'm sending it out today. Now I just have to wait for their response," Po said. 

"I'm sure they'll like it," Tigress smiled. She grabbed her things and waved at Po. "I hope to see you at work tomorrow."

"You will," Po grinned. After Tigress left, Po noticed Mei was strangely quiet. "Hey, is something wrong?"

"Hm? Nothing, I'm just... I got accepted to a job at another publisher's place. This time, they want me to write the recipes in some books and talk about them online. It's a little more flexible than my other job." 

"That's great!" Po beamed, "Now you don't have to be a maid-" Mei gave him a dark scowl. "I mean... work for Tai-Lung."

"Yeah," She said, focusing on the dishes. 

"Have you told him?"

"Not yet. I plan to tell him tomorrow." Po walked up to her and rested his hand on her shoulder. Mei immediately moved away. "Sorry, just a little tired."

"Are you okay?" Po asked. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Mei said, not looking her brother in the eye. Po took her shoulders and forced her to look at him. "Po, what are you-"

"Did he hurt you?" 

"WHAT?!"

"Did Tai-Lung hurt you?"

"No, no, no! He didn't hurt me! He didn't touch me! I promise." 

"Is that the problem?" 

"YE-..." Mei looked down at the floor. Po pulled her over to the couch and sat her down. 

"So... tell me what happened," Po said. 

To be Continued...