The Countdown: In Between the Lines

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When the gong went off the next morning, there was a mixed mood among the students. Some of them greeted their master as they had done every single morning. Others did it absent-mindedly with nervous pits in their stomachs. Shifu noticed the mixed atmosphere, but said absolutely nothing. He simply greeted his students and followed them to the kitchen to eat. Mei-Ling was already up making breakfast which would allow Po more time to be anxious over the morning's activities. The masters did their best to assure Po that he would be perfectly fine and that the second time would be much better. They soon got closer to the kitchens and caught whiff of the food that Mei-Ling was making. The scent drew almost everyone to the kitchen, allowing opportunity for some to have more private conversations. 

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Viper asked. She quickly pulled Tigress aside while the boys went into the kitchen, not even noticing that they had fallen behind. 

"Is something wrong?" Tigress asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"No, of course not. I just wanted to ask you something strictly out of curious confirmation." 

"Which would be...?"

"You and Crane dated?!" 

Tigress rolled her eyes ever-so-slightly. "That was over ten years ago," she reminded her. "Trust me; I haven't thought much about it." 

"Well I wasn't really worried about it if that's what you were thinking. I mean, you're obviously not dating now," Viper replied with a smile. "I'm just...very surprised. I didn't think you two would have dated. And no one's ever really mentioned it." 

"That's because I didn't feel like being a public spectacle," Tigress told her. "We both agreed to just stay friends and not talk about it."   The master eyed her friend. "I'm surprised Crane mentioned it," she added. 

"We were talking yesterday about old dates we went on, so that's how it came up." 

"Oh, I see." 

The girls began to walk towards the kitchen again to avoid the boys coming back to check on them. When they arrived, everyone was just sitting down to eat, with Po nervously chatting away clearly not in the mood for a second of teaching. They took their places at the table and slowly began to join the conversation when an appropriate place opened up. The masters discussed the exciting arrival of Crane's mom that afternoon and reassured their friend that everything would go perfectly fine. Crane was still worried about invaders, but tried to come to terms with the fact that perhaps not everything would go according to plan. (And if indeed there were invaders, the masters could quickly dispatch them while Shifu and Mei-Ling watched Mrs. Fan carefully). Everyone soon finished breakfast though and it was time for the inevitable. 

"I hope you all enjoy a wonderful morning of training," Shifu said. "I'll be meditating by the Moon Pool for the morning." 

Po tried to smile, but he still looked nervous. 

"I'll be right behind you," Mei-Ling told the masters as they started to file out of the kitchen. "I'm just going to grab my paper really quick." 

She grabbed her items from the counter and followed Po and the Furious Five out the door. Everyone then began to head over in the direction of the training hall, only to be stopped half-way there. 

"Shifu wants you to train by the Dragon Grotto today," she announced to the surprised group.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Po exclaimed. "But...but what if I accidentally knock one of the five off of the waterfall." 

"Po, you better not...." Mantis warned.

"Shifu's orders," Mei-Ling said. "Your instructions are the same as last time."