Kung Fu Panda: Inner Peace
#3 of Kung Fu Panda
Po and Tigress bond while they take care of his father's noodle shop.
Kung Fu Panda: Inner Peace By Tempo & Slate
Tigress's life used to make sense. Like dominoes, one thing led to another in logical succession. She could plan everything out a hundred steps in advance, be it a mission, a battle, or her life--right until Po had plummeted into her life and disrupted the pattern forever.
Life had taught her, even as a little girl, that walls of control were needed to keep her strength from hurting others, to keep others from hurting her. Now, in place of the steady tumble of dominoes, the panda knocked down these walls one after the other, all the while with a stupid grin on his face. She was starting to love him.
Legs crossed, the feline took a deep, cleansing breath and envisioned her mind as a great, empty palace. She had to tell Shifu sometime, but worried about how he'd react. The rest of the Five had taken it well, considering...well, considering Po. Subtlety seemed not to be a panda trait.
As if summoned, he padded up behind her without a trace of subtlety. "Hey good-lookin'." With a nuzzle at her ear, he sat beside her. "What's shakin'?"
Not opening her eyes, she couldn't help but smile a little. "Did I convince the Five you aren't an evil clone?"
A deep sigh. "Seems like it. Monkey sure made a big deal about my wearing cologne. Frankly, I was hoping you'd notice first."
"I did." A blush crept under her fur. "I just didn't feel the need to say anything in front of the others."
"I totally saw this coming, ya know. That you're a big softy deep down. Remember when I first got to the Jade Palace and the Furious Five were beating me up in training, but you didn't?"
"No, they stopped me because they thought I'd do you real harm." Her eyes narrowed. "And don't think I didn't notice you ogling me during my flying split kick either."
Po sputtered for a defense. "It was kung fu! Ogling's the only way I learn kung fu!"
Smile edging toward a grin, she opened her eyes just wide enough to guide her kiss.
He giggled, tasting a little like won tons. His tongue traced the insides of her lips, over the surfaces of her teeth and gums. The idea should have seemed alien to her, but her mouth opened to let him deeper. The kiss grew and blossomed into a nuzzle, tracing his softness against her nose.
She leaned against him. Her hands rested in her lap. A contented sigh eased from her lungs, peace glimmering in the depths of her heart.
His arm slipped around her hip. "Just so you know, I need to head down to the Valley later."
She tensed, just a little, still entranced by his warmth, his scent. "A mission? I hadn't heard anything."
"Nah. My dad's gonna be outta town, gettin' some spices. I told him I'd watch the shop while he's gone."
"Oh..." She hid her disappointment behind a stoic wall. "That's...very responsible of you. You do your father proud."
"Hey..." He touched her arm. "I'll miss our alone time too. And it's only for a week."
Her paws gathered his, which she studied and stroked. The quietness of her voice surprised her. "What if I can't wait that long?"
The panda chuckled. "You can always walk down and say hello."
"What if I want more than a hello?" A shrug.
He gripped her hands a little. "I could be persuaded to take a break."
"I doubt your father would approve of us fooling around while his customers are waiting." She met his eyes. "Maybe I'd better make myself useful."
"You're offering to help?"
"Are you saying I'm not capable of cooking a few noodles?" Her tone and smile held playful danger.
"No, it's just... Noodles aren't exactly kung fu. I found that out lots of times..."
"They say trying new things is essential to an agile mind." Her eyes rolled as she thought of how much she sounded like Shifu. "Besides, how hard can it be?"
~ ~ ~
Running a noodle shop was really hard.
The day consisted of wave after wave of hungry villagers, each interspersed with frantic dish scrubbing. The ceiling came too low--she kept hitting her head on beams, even as Po ducked them with ease. Worst of all, she couldn't shake the feeling noodle dough had somehow gotten under her claws.
Working with Po had proven a challenge, but she'd faced challenges every day of her life. If this challenge came with the chance to be squeezed into a tight kitchen with a soft, sexy panda, then so be it.
As night fell and the dinner crowd trickled out, the feline helped close up, then trudged with the panda upstairs.
Rather than following Po to the bed, Tigress moved across the little room to the window, her eyes wandering the walls. The bedroom ran even smaller than their lodgings at the Jade Palace, not helped by the layers of kung fu knick-knacks. The Five glowered at her from posters and paintings. A scroll from a street vendor promised the ability to "vanquish your foes with a breath!" Replica throwing stars shone, embedded in the wall. The panda had filled his corner of the world with a lifetime of dreams. Tigress wondered why he'd kept any of it once they had all come true.
Her eyes drifted across the row of carved wooden dolls arranged on the windowsill. None of the Five ever said it to Po, but they all suspected he'd made the dolls himself. Enjoying the way Po squirmed, as he always did when someone brought his "action figures" to light, she picked up the little version of herself. All scowl and solid lines. Or rather, it had been. Someone had gone in with black paint and turned the corners of her mouth up in an awkward smile.
She put the figurine back on the windowsill, keenly aware Po sat waiting and unsure how to proceed. Inspiration struck in the form of a sixth figure, face-down on a table below the window. She dusted the little cloth panda off, admiring the likeness. She set it next to the wooden Tigress, among the rest of their friends. "When you were living here all those years, did you ever hope this day would come?"
He started, caught staring. The little bed creaked as he fidgeted. "Well, a little. I mean, maybe? Uh, what day are we talking about, exactly?"
Tigress let her eyes return to the Dragon Warrior, flushed and vulnerable in his childhood bedroom. She let her hips sway in a way she hoped was alluring, bringing a paw up to her top. "Po..." She smiled, undoing the first clasp as she took a step forward. "I think you know."
The panda swallowed. He stopped to look back at her with the light from the setting sun framing his face in gold, and Tigress felt a smile tugging her lips. She'd heard his father fretting that the panda had lost weight since moving to the palace, but really the difference was minimal. It was unlikely there would ever be such a thing as a skinny panda. The real difference was more subtle, a matter of a bit of muscle here and a bit more flexibility there, and the way he used it. Training had given him some grace and victory some confidence. He no longer walked as though afraid of stepping on someone. She usually tried not to let her lover see her eyes wander over his body, but she felt she'd earned the right by this point. She wondered if his new attitude was making him handsome, or if he had been so all along and she'd simply been too busy thinking about pummeling him to notice.
It occurred to her she was alone with the Dragon Warrior in what must be the most intimate place in the world for him, and, from the way he was having trouble keeping his eyes off her, it must have occurred to him too.
She buried her muzzle in the thick fur of his neck, nuzzling her affection. He smelled like flour and wood smoke, rich and homey. Everything about him was warm and soft and comforting. As if a lazy summer morning had sprouted legs and learned kung fu.
As his hands slipped to the waistline of her pants, her stomach gave a nervous flutter, but she clamped down hard on it. This was no time to be timid.
He gave a soft groan into the kiss, arching up against her as she ground down against him, and surprised her by pressing his muzzle forward, his tongue overpowering hers to fill her mouth. He wanted her, badly enough that he was having a hard time controlling himself. The thought made her ears pin back in pleasure, and she pressed a dueling tongue back against his as something warm and urgent blossomed in her belly.
Once he had slid her pants off her hips, his hands returned along the insides of her thighs, and here the Dragon Warrior was practiced enough to be bold. One palm turned upward, cupping and curling around her wet mound, fingers sinking just deep enough to drive her wild. His other hand slipped around her back to the base of her tail, pressing her closer to him. Her moan was lost into his muzzle as he pressed their lips back together. She could feel his maleness pressing against her thigh. He seemed determined to ignore it, and she couldn't think straight enough to move with his fingers dancing their nimble dance inside her.
"Po--" She gasped around the kiss, only to lose her voice to a gasp as his fingers rolled across her pearl. With tangible effort she managed to wrap her arms around his shoulders and drag her mouth from his, pressing the panda's head against her chest. She climbed up him a few inches, forcing his fingers out of her mound as it settled instead, and rather pointedly, against the prominence in his pants. Her voice a husky whisper, she brushed her lips across his round little ear. "Po, your pants are scratchy. Take them off."
The panda's eyes shot wide and he searched her face, hands faltering on her naked hips. All she had to do was smile and he unfastened the garment in a hurry. The motion of shimmying out of them scooted him back fully onto the bed and she followed, wanting to keep his naked warmth against her. Her fingers brushed his emerging member. His empty pants fluttered to one side of the room as she took him in hand, enjoying his soft, throbbing warmth against her palm. She had a fleeting urge to keep him there, to listen to him hissing and whimpering in pleasure as she stroked him like before, but a desire had awoken in her that wouldn't be suppressed, a need that burned with urgency. No sooner was he naked and hard beneath her than she was mounting him, letting the blunt length of his maleness caress down her belly until slick flesh met slick flesh.
She looked down at the Dragon Warrior for final confirmation and saw his green eyes wide and conflicted. With visible effort, he drew his hands off her hips and kept his gaze on her face and off the rest of her. "Uh, Tigress, listen. I know this is kinda fast. We don't have to..."
She breathed, spread her legs a little further, and looked down at him with resolve. "I am ready."
"Okay." He shrugged with a breathy chuckle. "So serious--"
She shut him up with a kiss. She knew how badly he wanted this, and she wanted it just as much. There was no point in dancing around it and she wasn't about to let his attempts at politeness stand in the way of her instincts. She kept her nose pressed to his as she allowed the kiss to break, their smiles caressing each other as she took him inside her.
Tigress wasn't sure what she had been expecting. She'd heard horror stories from the girls in the village, of course: tales of pain and discomfort and embarrassment. But whether those stories had been exaggerated or because her panda had done his duty preparing her, the tiger felt nothing but swelling joy as they joined together. She stifled a moan on his chest fur as gravity helped his girth to spread her open. Their pelvises met and she had to shudder at how his heat suffused her. How could he be so much hotter in her passage than he'd been against her palm?
She rode against him, testing the sensations, working him deeper. A growl of desire propelled her harder against him, her paws propped on his soft tummy. His bare erection unsheathed further as she impaled herself on him.
Under her, the panda gasped. His cock throbbed within her, slickness from the over-eager panda adding to her own, lubricating her already slippery depths. His furry balls bounced under her tail. His strong paws gripped her thighs, hips pumping that thick member into her.
Hungry for the feeling, she redoubled her efforts, calling on reserves usually saved for training. Her hips slammed down, creaking the wooden bed frame. Gripping his plush fur, she slammed down against him. She squeezed harder, stroking faster, hearing his breath start to come in ragged gasps...
Po stammered half a warning and gripped the edge of the bed, a deep groan rising in his chest. Powerful muscles rippled somewhere beneath his chest fur, his hips bucked against her with a life of their own, and then his eyes went wide. The Panda let out a moan, and then his balls twitched. Slick warmth surged into her, his cock pulsing and throbbing with every squirt. The feline's eyes shot wide at the novel sensation. They pressed together, frozen by pleasure, her muscles working over his spurting member, milking each blast of cum from him. He marked every new pulse with a deep grunt of pleasure, helpless beneath her ministrations. As their passion started tapering, his hips ground just a little against hers. They grew still, the only sensation that dazzling warmth, all the warmer now he'd found his release in her. The panda reached up, caressing her cheek ruffs with infinite care, pure love shining in those green eyes.
Then the bed collapsed.
Bamboo splinters scattered across the floor on a wave of flour dust. Po tensed, looked around confused for an instant, then shrugged up at her.
Tigress groaned, then groaned for a very different reason as she felt his paw caress her wet crotch fur. His thumb found her clit and rubbed their secret recipe of sexual juices against it. She ground on his softening cock, rocking back and forth, letting it hit various pleasant places inside her. If she moved just right, his cock head bumped just under the front of her passage. With muscle control that would have impressed any kung fu master, she thrust the same way again and again, bumping his half-hard erection against her most delicate regions. All the while, his talented paw worked over her clitoris, massaging it against her folds and his flesh.
The feline's breath quickened. Her heartbeat struck a faster pace than her paws ever could. Her striped tail shot straight as she yowled. "Po!"
Grinning, the panda rubbed faster.
Passage fluttering, paws crushing the remains of his bed, she climaxed. Bliss rushed her tender passage, muscles quivering from exertion, body trembling with orgasm. Her ears flicked back as she panted, riding out delight as it buffeted her soul.
He slumped back in a stupor. She batted at his ears.
"Don't! Dooon't!" He flailed at her paws. "Tigress, quit it..."
Smiling, she showed him mercy. The kung fu master snuggled up and rubbing her head under his chin with a purr.
With a sigh of perfect peace, he draped his arms over her naked back.
Breath slowing, Tigress lay beside her lover, meditating on her first time. Their first time. He'd felt so good in her, filling an emptiness she'd long since learned to ignore. So much for ignoring it now. In fact, even just thinking about it seemed to be having the opposite effect of regular meditation. She rolled on top of him, paws pressing down on his shoulders. Her slit dripped with their combined fluids, slathering his sheathed cock with desire. Her breath rolled down his muzzle. "Again."
Po, still groggy from orgasm, glanced down... "Wh-whuh?" ...then up. "Right now? Babe, I need at least--"
She cut him off with a powerful kiss, growling into his open mouth as her tongue dominated his.
The panda lay there, stunned and panting. "Okay, right now it is."
~ ~ ~
A few days later, Tigress and Po climbed the countless stairs that led to the Jade Palace. Po's father never ventured far; the noodle shop and his son were his world. About halfway up the mountainside, she realized she was holding his paw, but didn't stop. In her dreamy state, she couldn't think of a reason not to, or even why she wouldn't want to normally. They rounded the last bend in the stone steps to find Shifu standing at the Palace gates.
A chill ran through Tigress's blood. A single look in his eyes told her all she needed: he knew.
"Po, please give us a moment." He tapped the bottom of his walking stick on the stone courtyard. "I'd like to speak with Tigress alone."
The panda offered her a helpless shrug.
Her posture stiffened. She wondered which of the Five had betrayed her, then saw Monkey poke his grinning head over the roof and waved at her.
The tiny red panda's brow knit. "Now, Po."
With a ginger smile, he scampered through the gates, giving Shifu a wide berth.
The elder master sighed at his student's sincere mockery of tact.
She straightened her posture even further. "Is there...something on your mind, master?"
One of Shifu's eyebrows rose as he gave the slightest glance after Po.
"Oh." Biting her lip, Tigress surrendered.
He rubbed his temples, trying to clear his mind. "Come. Let us walk."
The tiger hurried after her teacher, falling into pace at his side. "Forgive me, Master. I should have told you. I just... I didn't want you to think of me as anything other than the little girl you gave hope to."
Shifu waved the idea off. "There's no need to explain."
"But--"
"Tigress, how many parts of the Jade Palace do you think are from it's original construction?" He gestured to the hall around them.
"I...don't know, Master." The thought mulled over in her head for a moment.
"To my knowledge, very few pieces of the Palace have not needed repair over the centuries." Somewhere in the distance, a panda's shout was followed by the crash of ceramics. Shifu winced. "Especially since Po's arrival. But can anyone deny that this is, in fact, the Jade Palace?"
Her brow furrowed. Philosophical quandaries had never been her strong suit. "...No."
"Correct." The red panda crossed his arms, a hand up either sleeve. "Through all those changes, this structure has remained the Jade Palace. And, as far as I'm concerned, you will always be the young girl I took in."
As they padded in silence down the Sacred Hall of Warriors, Tigress smiled. She even felt the need to hug him. She didn't follow through on it--today had been awkward enough, but it felt...nice.
We contemplated titling this chapter "Crouching Tiger, Humping Panda".
Edits: Vendetta,
Comments welcome! : D
-Tempo