Action Figure

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Kung Fu Panda. They belong to Dreamworks.

It had been an ordinary day for Po. He woke up at the Jade Palace in the morning, fought off some bandits with the Furious Five, then went to his dad's noodle shop for a visit. That was the routine he had every day. His dad, friends, and everyone else were aware of it, but there was something they didn't know.

Every evening when Po would go into his old room, he would play around with his action figures. Even now, when he was the Dragon Warrior and hung out with the Furious Five every day, he still liked to play with the old toys. But there was one in particular that he liked the best.

"Tigress," he sighed dreamily. He had had a crush on Tigress for a long time, way before he even met her. He had always daydreamed about her. Her pictures on the posters that were in his room were his favorite, and the little plastic figurine of her was his most prized possession.

He never told anyone about his crush. He thought they would just laugh at him. Because why would anyone love an immature fat panda like him? Well he knew his dad loved him, and his friends the Furious Five sure cared about him, but he thought it was impossible for a girl to ever fall for him.

Every time he would wake up in the morning at the Jade Palace, Tigress would be the first one he said "good morning" to. He also tried his best to act mature around her, but he always had some joke to say or would laugh about something foolish. He was also a major klutz, tripping over his own feet sometimes. He was clumsiest when he was around Tigress. He would be heading out to go in another room and he would keep looking back at her, getting distracted and bumping into the wall. He would laugh nervously and rush out of the room, resulting in a smile from Tigress.

He thought that she got annoyed by his behavior, especially when he had first become the Dragon Warrior. Tigress was always so mean and serious, but after Po had defeated Tai Lung, she became nicer and often laughed. Po loved this new change in her behavior. For one thing he loved to see her happy. It made her look so much better when she smiled instead of frowning all the time. And she was nicer to him, which made him feel good.

After Shen had been defeated, Po and Tigress's friendship had grown a lot. In fact, Tigress was the one who had hugged him first and showed how much she cared about him. When that first happened, Po had a feeling inside him like he had never felt before. It was hard to describe, but it made him all warm and fuzzy. Before that moment, Po had never realized how much Tigress cared about him. He still knew that she didn't love him like he loved her though.

There were so many reasons why he loved her. First of all she was beautiful. Every time Po looked into her golden eyes, his heart would melt. They especially looked pretty at nighttime when they would glow. He could look into her eyes all day. Her face was also very attractive. She didn't need to get all fixed up by putting makeup on, brushing her fur, or anything like that. She had natural beauty.

Looks weren't the only thing that Po liked about Tigress. He also liked her personality. Even when she was mean to him, he admired her because of her bravery and strength. She was always ready to fight enemies, no matter how big or small. She was even willing to fight Tai Lung by herself, which was foolish. Po had been so worried about her when the Five had been brought back by Crane, motionless. He was so relieved when he found out that they were alive. He wanted to tell Tigress how upset he was that she would risk her life like that, but he was too afraid. Even with Crane, Monkey, Viper and Mantis helping her, they all came back defeated. So if she had went by herself like she was originally planning...

Po didn't even want to think about what could have happened. He was just happy that everything turned out alright in the end. He loved Tigress so much and would feel terrible if anything ever happened to her.

He sighed again as he picked up the little Tigress action figure and brought it close to his face. He slowly started to bring it to his lips, when all of a sudden the door burst open.

"Ah!" Po yelled as he turned around and saw his dad standing in his doorway. "Dad! What are you doing here?"

"I came to tell you that dinner is ready!" The goose replied. "Why are you so angry Po? And what are you doing with all of those old toys out?"

Po just stared at him for a minute, trying to come up with an explanation. It seemed that his dad hadn't seen what Po was about to do to the Tigress action figure, so he quickly thought and said, "Oh, uh, I was just... dusting them off! Yeah! 'Cause you know they're really old and they've been sitting on that windowsill for a long time."

Mr. Ping looked at him suspiciously for a moment, but then decided that he wouldn't question him further. "Well okay son. Why don't you go wash up and then come down to dinner? You have to get back to the Jade Palace and get up early tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll be right down Dad," Po replied.

"Alright I'll see you in a few minutes," Po's dad announced as he started walking down the stairs.

Po sighed again. "Well, I guess I'd better put these away." He grabbed all the action figures and put them back on the windowsill.

The next morning at the Jade Palace, Tigress was the first one to wake up. She went to the kitchen to make herself some tea. After a few minutes, Viper came in to join her.

"Good morning Tigress!" Viper greeted warmly.

"Good morning Viper. Would you like me to make you some tea?" Tigress offered.

"Yes please. Thank you," Viper answered as she took a seat at the table.

"So, how has your little crush on Crane been?" Tigress asked as she smiled mischievously.

"Oh, stop it!" Viper giggled. "He would never feel the same way about me."

"You never know until you ask him," Tigress said in a singsong voice.

"I know, but I'm just too afraid to tell him," Viper sighed. "But let's talk about something else. How is your crush doing?"

Tigress stopped stirring the tea and turned around. "Sh, not so loud! Someone will hear you!" She whispered as she blushed bright red.

Viper laughed and said, "Relax! No one else is up yet. The boys always sleep in late."

"Well anyway," Tigress stated as she continued making the tea, "I'm still in love with Po, but I haven't had the courage to tell him yet. What if he doesn't like me back?"

"Oh come on Tigress, of course he likes you! Don't you ever notice the way he bumps into things when he's around you? And I see him staring at you all the time and smiling. I know he likes you!"

"Maybe," Tigress said more to herself than Viper.

Shifu chuckled quietly. He had been outside the door the whole time, hearing the conversation. He decided that he had heard everything they had to say about the matter, so he walked away.

About a half hour later, everyone was up and training. Po was partnered up with Monkey, but he kept glancing at Tigress. Monkey then hit Po in the head with a giant stick.

"Ow!" Po shouted as he held the top of his head in pain.

"Sorry Po!" Monkey apologized. "I thought you would block it like you usually do, but you seem distracted today."

Upon hearing this, Tigress stopped what she was doing and looked over at Po.

"Distracted? Nah, I'm not distracted! I'm just uh, thinking about something. That's all," Po responded nervously.

"Maybe you should take a break," Monkey suggested.

"Yeah, a break. That's what I need. I'll just go outside for a few minutes," Po said as he walked out the door.

Tigress looked at him worriedly. She could tell something was wrong, and she was going to find out what it was. She followed him outside.

Po sat on a rock while Tigress hid behind a tree watching him.

"I've got to stop this! I can't keep getting distracted by Tigress!" Po scolded himself.

Tigress gasped when she heard her name.

"Every time I'm in the same room as her I constantly stare at her, and then I get hit in the head!" He sighed. "But I just can't help it! She's so beautiful!" He put his chin in his hands and looked up at the sky, daydreaming.

'I can't believe he likes me! He even said I'm beautiful! I have to go talk to him,' Tigress thought. She walked over to him. He didn't notice her at first, so she cleared her throat.

"Ah!" Po jumped in surprise. "T-Tigress! Where did you come from?"

"I followed you out here. I could tell something was wrong, so I hid behind that tree over there," Tigress admitted as she pointed to the tree.

Po's eyes went wide. "So you... heard what I said?"

"Yes. I did."

"Oh no!" Po got up and started to run away, but Tigress grabbed his arm.

"Wait! Please don't go!" She begged.

"What do you want now? You already know my secret!" Po said miserably.

"Po you don't understand. I have a secret too," she confessed.

"Yeah? Well whatever it is I'm sure it's nothing as embarrassing as mine!" Po yelled.

"Actually Po, I... I love you too!" She blurted out.

Po looked at her like she was crazy. "I'm sorry I don't think I heard you right."

"You did. I admit it! I love you! I've had a crush on you for a long time, even when I used to be mean to you. And after you defeated both Tai Lung and Shen, I realized that I had fallen in love with you. You're always so happy and funny. You tell the funniest jokes and have the cutest laugh. It was because of you that I got my sense of humor back. All this time I was too afraid to say anything. The only one who knew was Viper, but after hearing you say how you feel about me, I just had to tell you."

Po stared at her with a shocked expression on his face. "Wow, I can't believe it! I never thought in a million years that you would love me! I'm so fat and stupid! All I do is joke around, even when something serious is happening, and—" Po didn't get to finish what he was saying because Tigress kissed him on the lips.

Po just stood there for a moment, taking in what was going on. He couldn't believe Tigress was actually kissing him! After a moment though he kissed her back. They broke away after a few seconds and both of them blushed bright red.

"Wow Tigress. That was... AMAZING!" Po declared as he smiled.

Tigress blushed even more. "So, exactly how long have you had a crush on me?"

Po was caught off guard by the question, but he answered with, "Well, several years now. You see, it all started when I got my Furious Five action figures. I used to play with them all the time. Then I started getting Furious Five posters, and when I looked at the ones with you on them I just couldn't stop staring. So then I would play with the action figure of you and... kiss it."

Tigress couldn't help but smile in amusement. "Wow! I never knew how much those action figures meant to you! Especially the one of me."

"Yeah, well when I was leaving with you guys to go fight Shen, my dad brought out my actions figures and I scolded him for scratching yours. Ha ha," Po replied.

"I'm flattered!" Tigress laughed, but then she became serious. "Po, why were you saying all those bad things about yourself? About you being fat and joking around? What's so bad about that?"

"Well usually people don't find other people who are fat attractive. And I'm as fat as they get! I'm a panda! It's not really my choice to be fat. I mean sure I can lose a little weight, but pandas are just born overweight. And I know everyone likes jokes, but I go overboard. I joke at times when I shouldn't and half of the stuff I say isn't even funny," Po explained.

"Oh Po! I wish I had known all of this long ago! I think you're wrong about everything. So what if you're overweight? You're still really cute! And you're super cuddly!" To prove her point, she gave him a big hug. "And your jokes are the funniest I've ever heard! They make me smile even when I'm in the worst moods. You shouldn't ever talk bad about yourself."

"Aw, Tigress. No one's ever said something so nice to me before! I love you so much!"

"I love you too Po," Tigress said sweetly as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Off in the distance, Shifu was watching the whole scene. He chuckled and said, "I knew they would show their feelings for each other sooner or later."

The End

A/N: This is my first Kung Fu Panda story, and more importantly my first romance story! I hope you liked it! Please review! :D