The Countdown

Welcome to the dating pool

Before I begin, there was some commenting back in the chapter Blushing Arrows about Mantis and Monkey getting punished by rudegirl7, FanfictionLover04, and EliseHaloMoon. 

I liked the idea of punishing Mantis and Monkey, and while I know you guys were probably joking around a bit, I really thought that was the funniest thing, so I decided to apply it to this chapter. Thanks you guys!

As the sun rose over the valley of peace, Tigress began to stir, the morning sun blinding her. She began to sit up and rub away the sticky remnants of her tears from the night before, accidentally bumping against a soft and plushy surface. It was then that she realized that she had fallen asleep against Po who still had his arms around her from cradling her the night before. The master glanced around in a slight panic, hoping that no one would see them and get the wrong idea.

I fell asleep against PO?! she thought in alarm. How did that even happen?! I don't fall asleep against people! I either meditate or go to sleep in my own bed by myself!

From beside her, Po began to stir, letting out a small yawn. Tigress sat up and watched him stretch his arms, thankful that he at least didn't have bad morning breath.

"Where am-" the Dragon Warrior began, but then glanced at Tigress who was right next to him and turned a dark shade of red. "Um," he stammer. "Did we fall asleep?"

"Yep," Tigress told him, standing up and helping him to his feet. "Fortunately, everyone's still sleeping, so we don't have to worry about Monkey or Mantis making bets about it."

Po laughed nervously, glancing over towards the barracks. "Well that's a good thing," he said.

"We should probably head to the kitchen or the training hall," Tigress informed him, stretching her leg against the tree and then walking away from the cliff with the panda in tow. "At this point, it'd be pretty pointless to go back to sleep."

"I call the training hall," Po told her with a grin. "That way we can get even with old spikey."

Tigress rolled her eyes and smiled. "If you really want to injure yourself on a pair of spikes," she told him. "Go right ahead. I'm working on my balancing first before I even attempt to go back on that thing!"

"Fair enough."

The two warriors walked away from the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom and headed over to the training hall. Tigress could see Po still had a red blush across his face, but figured it was because he had been a bit worried about Monkey and Mantis getting the wrong idea. They soon reached the gates of the training hall and headed inside to the training arena, only to find Master Shifu and Mei Ling locked in a passionate kiss against the training hall door. The moment the two heard the gate open, the swung their heads around at the two warriors, both of their cheeks turning bright red.

"Um...we're interrupting something aren't we?" Po said awkwardly.

"No, it's perfectly fine," Mei Ling told them, slightly embarrassed. "We...uh...."

"We were just...finishing up with the...tour...." Shifu stammered.

"Yeah, I was just heading out."

The two masters stood in a light awkward silence for a brief moment before Mei Ling coughed gently and kissed Shifu on the cheek. "I'll see you soon, Fufi," she told the grandmaster, and with that, took to walking out of the training hall. Po and Tigress watched the fox exit before turning back to Shifu who was straightening out his slightly crinkled robe.