A/N: This story is dedicated to my beloved boyfriend Timbit the Lynx-Angel. I really hope he will like it, since he was so sweet to make an one-shot to me some time ago.

I know that one-shot is pretty pointless, but it was so fun to write! Seriously!

I do not own Kung Fu Panda.

Balance

"You know, I remember my first time trying this," Po said as he balanced on the Jade Tortoise with Tigress on the other side of the bowl.

"It's just about balance, Dragon Warrior," she told him calmly, jumping to try and make him fall.

But the panda caught himself in the last second. "Training hall! I mean the training hall!" he exclaimed as he went into panic as he looked at the bottom. But then he straightened up and stood with steady legs again.

"What about it?" the tiger asked him, watching as he saved himself from a tough landing.

"It's pretty scary at first sight," he continued, taking his fighting stance.

Tigress calmly glanced at her surroundings. "Not really." Po then used her moment of distraction to leap at her, but she just blocked the attack and sent him back to where he stood before.

"Come on! Don't you remember your first time trying it?" he asked her. "Because I certainly remember mine!"

"I do remember," she softly. "But it is long time and many training days since."

"Yeah, no kidding. You came here when you were a kid, right?"

"Right."

"So… How did the first time go?" he asked as he tried to sneak closer to her.

Tigress looked at him, waiting calmly for him to come closer. "I did not exactly start out hard."

"So… Level zero?" Po asked, remembering what he had done as a start.

The tiger nodded. "Exactly."

Po then suddenly kicked her, but she flipped over to the other side of him. The panda grabbed her arm, but then Tigress put her legs on his chest and jumped away from him. She landed on the other side on all fours, but quickly stood up.

"There's…" Po had trouble talking as he tried to find his balance; Tigress' kick had nearly sent him off the bowl. "Something… You don't… Tell…"

"Like what?"

"Admit it! You must have got your butt kicked at some point!" he exclaimed.

"You want to know if I failed?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Not exactly failed… It's just; you can't have been that awesome all the time, can you?"

She sighed. "I have been a cub too, Po."

He looked excited as if something big was coming up. "Aaand? Whoah!" he exclaimed as she suddenly was in his face. The surprise made him fall backwards.

But that was not exactly the problem.

The problem was that Po automatically grabbed the edge of it with his paws. And because of his, well, big weight, the bowl tipped over.

Tigress, who had thought that the panda would have been quick enough to block her attack, was too hit by panic. Not wanting to hit the ground as it would mean that she would lose, she too grabbed the edge and straightened up her body so it looked like she was walking on her hands.

Po, on the other hand, continued hanging from the edge of the bowl in a vertical position. As they both looked into each other eyes, he asked, "So… what then?"

"What now?"

"No; what happened when you were a cub too," he grinned even though their situation seemed grim. One of them was going to get tired, the bowl could tip totally over, or one of them could become a genius and get up again.

The tiger paused before saying, "I tried the training hall later that day. I did it in the night where Master Shifu wouldn't see me."

"Aaand?"

She sighed. "I got hit by one of the wooden clubs and kissed the wall."

"Wow, that was-"

"Embarrassing." Tigress did not seem like her position was straining for her, but just continued looking down. "So I tried again."

"Oh, this is getting good!"

She glared at him. "Says the panda that came out from the training hall for the first time with fire in his fur."

"Yeah, those were great times… Finish the story, please."

The tiger raised an eyebrow. "And you don't think that we should try and get up first?"

Even though his arms were shaking and his feet were no more than inches from touching the ground, the panda answered, "Not really."

Tigress resisted rolling her eyes, but continued, "I was busy… getting beaten when Master Shifu opened the doors to the hall. He found me flying in the air as I wasn't quick enough to block an attack from one of the wooden warriors."

Po grimaced at the thought. "Oof."

She smiled grimly. "I used to call that warrior the 'Tooth Stealer' after that."

The panda grinned at her comment. "Really?"

She nodded. "Master Shifu helped me up and asked me to explain. I remember I could not talk. I was sure he was going to punish me by sending me back to the orphanage. Finally I found my voice and told him that I had just wanted to train further."

When she became quiet, Po was also shaking of excitement. "What did he say? Wait; he did not send you back, did he?"

She sighed. "You should be able to figure that out, Po."

"So… No?"

The tiger continued, "He checked me over to see if I was injured, but then he told me that I had to control my eager. I said that I just wanted to get better. Then he told me that there is a balance in all people. If I trained all the time, also the night, then my spirit would be unbalanced and my body would shut down." She gave him a small smile. "A later tried to see if that was right… Each time I came to the conclusion that it is."

"But you already train like really, really hard!"

She shook her head. "I am still in balance." With a grunt, she then swung her body down with such a great force that the bowl tipped the other way.

"Whoah!" Po exclaimed as he flew forward, losing his grip and the edge, and landed at the bottom with his face first. Sitting up while rubbing his head, Po first then saw that he was not alone inside the bowl. Tigress was there too, staring at him.

"I guess Shifu was right then," Po muttered.

She nodded. "There's a balance in everything." She then stood up and offered him her paw.

He took it.

But then he could not help but ask, "So… Who lost?"

The End