A Friend Indeed (Kung Fu Panda)

Sound

Tigress slept soundly and quietly, until the middle of the night. It had taken surprisingly little to fall asleep. The sounds of creaking floorboards groaned their way past the doors of her room and into her ear. Muted and faint they may have been, they woke her up.

Tigress lifted her head slightly, confused at first as to where she was and why she was there, before memories caught up. Her confusion then shifted as to what had woken her up. She tried to sit up in her bed, before her side made her lie back down with a wince.

She strained her ears, examining the seemingly endless silence. Muted through wood, she could still hear footsteps and the sounds of something being shifted to the side, and the sliding scrape of ceramics.

Tigress pushed herself out of bed, sliding down to all fours. She glided along the floor of the second story. The sounds were coming from downstairs. She propped one paw against the wall, and taking deep breaths, she lowered herself down the stairs, one at a time.

She reached the end of the stairs, and peered over the edge. She was right, someone was down here, scrounging through the shop.

Without giving time for second thoughts, she pounced, catching the person's arm behind their back. She pulled it behind them as she planted a foot on their head. "Who are you?!" She demanded. "What are you doing here?!"

She was answered by a very familiar voice repeatedly going "Owowowow," and a paw rapidly tapping the floor.

Tigress faltered. "Po?" she asked in surprise. She dropped the arm and lifted herself off of him.

Po rolled himself onto his back, rubbed his wrist and gave a wave. "Hey Tigress. Sleeping well?"

"What are you doing up in the dead of night?" Tigress said, still not quite certain that this wasn't some kind of fever dream.

"What am I doing up?" Po echoed, scooting up to sit. "What are you doing up? You're the one that got cut, if anyone should be asleep it's you."

Tigress' paw placed itself on her forehead. "I thought you were a robber," Tigress said with exasperation. "What's your excuse."

"Who me?" Po said, like it could be anyone else. "I was just. . . just helping myself to little midnight snack," he gave a small laugh.

Tigress' eyes scanned the room, observing the number of crumbs and scattered bowls and jars. "That must have been quite a snack," she remarked drily. 

"What can I say; I'm a growing boy," Po said with an uneven attempt of a smile.

Tigress stared at him levelly for a few moments, watching his smile die. "Po," she said. "What are you really doing up?"

Po sighed. "When I'm sad or stressed out, I eat. I'm not even hungry, but having something that tastes nice to chew on helps a little bit."

Tigress hummed, before lowering herself carefully to sit down. Po made to help her, but backed off when he saw that she had things handled. Tigress hummed without judgement. "That doesn't really sound like the healthiest coping mechanism," she said gently.

Po grabbed one of the bean buns, which were uncharacteristically fresh. "Maybe not," he admitted, before taking a bite. "But it is the tastiest." He offered one of the buns. "Care for a bite?"

Tigress looked like she wanted to say something, but settled for simply shaking her head.

"So," Po said, "How do you cope?"

"With what?" Tigress asked.

Po shrugged. "Everything. You defend the valley from pretty much every band of bandits and ne'er-do-wells. You can't tell me that doesn't get stressful. And from what I hear, Master Shifu's a pretty tough case."