A/N: Hey! I've been working on this for a while, and if anyone likes it, I'll continue it! Thanks!

Chapter 1: Pain

Po sat on the towering, near-never ending steps to the Jade Palace. A legend to some, home to him. Since rebuilding it, it was different. Still home, still comforting , but new. And that sense of 'new' gave him a confidence and push he didn't know he possessed. That explained why, when Tigress walked over to him, he didn't stutter like a babbling idiot like all the other times he'd attempted. Romeo, he was not.

"Come here often?" he joked. Smooth as ice, uncommonly. She smirked and sat beside him, the air of change affecting her as well.

She eyed him curiously. Her best friend – she used that word hesitantly but happily – had been acting alien recently. She certainly didn't like it, but wasn't expecting it to last long. "Funny," she replied. Her eyes wandered up towards the overly-crowded sky, sprinkled in blotches and splotches with stars. she broke the silence: "Thinking?"

"As rare as it is for me, yeah." Wit, a mysterious thing. It's a weapon that can make the user a hundred times more likable. She found it odd that he was so sharp with his words, and if it continued long it would become disturbing – concerning.

"Are you ok?" There was only one way to find out why he was so entertaining tonight.

He nodded calmly. Something in him was in a very serene, still state. Odd, considering the task that lay before him. "Fine. Say, uh, Tigress." His stomach starting twisting and contorting as his composure fled for safety. He beckoned it back, but to was too afraid to come out from under the covers. He looked to the upper left of his view and away from her. "You know, we've, uh, been friends for a loooong time, right? And I know this sounds kind of crazy, but…"

No. No. No. Not now, not today, not here. Tigress wasn't ready for this. She knew what he was innocently leading up to, and she didn't feel the same way. She didn't love him. It was hard to say, think, and feel, but it was true. Sometimes she would look at him from across the room or during training and her heart would pound with love, but other times she would have chosen anyone other than him. It was so confusing that sometimes in made her head sting. It was the fact that she couldn't decide whether she loved, hated, respected him, or all of the above that drove her mad.

"…I've decided, after a lot of lost sleep and stuff, that…" he finally glanced in her direction as she cringed, before looking back down to the hard steps. "…I, I think I love you Tigress."

Oh no. Why her? Why not Mei Mei? She didn't want to break his heart. Maybe she sometimes wanted to break his skull, but not his heart. Why did he love her anyway? It didn't make sense, it didn't agree with logic. That bothered Tigress, who valued logic and common sense highly. "Uh, Po, I mean, I'm completely flattered, but…"

His face fell with shock, and almost grief as she attempted to pull the, 'It's not you, it's me' card. "…I'm not really looking for anything right now…" Cringe. "…I don't really do that sort of thing." Crack. "But you're my best friend, and…yeah." Crunch.

Po attempted to recover with as much dignity and speed as possible. He got up and back towards the entrance, miraculously not tripping on the petals that had recently fallen and cracks in the stone. "Oh, ok, that's cool, it wasn't even a big deal, see you later for training Ti!" He shouted that last part from the entrance to the Jade Palace, his back to her.

She groaned and rubbed her head. "Not good."

Inside, Po's head was spinning. And so was his body.

Shifu was coming back from dinner when he spotted Po, more or less crashing into everything. "Po? Is something wrong?"

Po shook his head as he attempted to wander over to Shifu, his feet appearing heavy and weighed down. "No, I'm…fine." Spots of mud purple began to invade his line of vision as he leaned against the wall. The world was surely spinning around him, wasn't it? And it was getting faster. And darker.

"Po?" Shifu was ready to call for help as the Dragon Warrior slid down against the wall and sat wearily.

"I just…needa lie…down." His words were slurred as he finally let his consciousness escape.