A Friend Indeed (Kung Fu Panda)

A Road

Tigress was warring with herself each and every step down from the Jade Palace. On one step she would tell herself that it was stupid; that there was no way that it would be worth it, that she should just turn back now before she ended up wasting her afternoon. The next step down, and her thoughts would do a complete U-turn. She should go, if for nothing else than getting a cheap meal. If she had tried it, and it still was terrible, then she would have every right to never go their again. But did she really want to deal with that panda's childishness? Did she really mind?

Soon enough she was halfway down the massive stairway, and paused. One more step, and it would officially be easier to go to the noodle shop than it would be to walk her way back up to the Palace. If she was actually going to turn around, now would be the time to do it. She stood in her conflict for a while before a voice called from the side. "Looking for directions?"

She jumped in her skin and whirled to the side before seeing who it was. "Oh! Master Oogway, I didn't see you there."

"Good evening," Master Oogway greeted. He unperched himself from one of the boulders on the side of the stairs. "Where are you headed, young one?"

"I. . . was just trying to figure that out." Tigress didn't know exactly what it was, but it easy to be honest around Oogway. Even if his mysticisms annoyed her sometimes.

"If you don't know where to head, forward is usually a good place to start," Oogway said with a smile. "After all, you're free to walk anywhere, so long as you don't walk backwards." Oogway laughed a little to himself. Tigress had a feeling that there was a message in there somewhere, but didn't quite feel like sorting it out right now.

Tigress watched Oogway walk a few steps uphill before calling out. "Master Oogway, wait!" The turtle paused and swung his head to look to the young tiger. "Would. . . would you like to have some noodles for lunch?"

Master Oogway smiled. "I would be delighted," he said. He made a show of relying on his staff to scale the palace steps. "You'll have to be forgive me though, my joints aren't what they used to be," he said, like he wouldn't be able to lay Tai Lung flat in a rematch.

Despite herself, Tigress smiled.

***

Po had been anxious for most of the day. Learning how to cook with his dad's supervision had been a slow and steady process. Most of the bowls had at least two or three things wrong with them, but Po's dad had never given up on his son. To his credit, Po's dishes were getting (well. . . better was a bit of a strong word in Po's opinion) progressively less dangerous.

Mr. Ping had stepped in and salvaged what orders he could, and cooked what Po could not. The lunch crowd had been held up a fair bit, and the food might not have been quite up to stuff, but Po was pretty sure only half of the customers had noticed. Mostly.

Hearing his dad compliment what he was doing well however, had made the entire process worth it. At least it did, until he saw a familiar patch of orange and black stripes. She was back.

"Oh gods," he cried. Acting on fight-or-flight instinct, he ducked behind the counter, not that it could his entire mass.

Po's attempt to turn invisible had, of course, been noticed by Mr. Ping. "Po?" he asked, leaning over to look at his son more on his level, "what are you doing?"

"She's back," Po said, slightly panicked.

"Who?"

"Her," Po said, not bothering to sit up to at least gesture at who he was referring to. "You know,  the- the kung fu tiger girl."