The next morning, Tigress awoke to the sound of the gong ringing throughout the valley. She yawned and sat up, stretching her arms so that she could wake herself up more. The master stood up and walked out of her room, hearing a few creaks coming from Po's room as he tossed and turned. The master's mind briefly flashed back to the dance at the festival when Po had been acting funny. Tigress remembered him stuttering when she had looked at him, but she figured that was due to the awkwardness of the situation.

I'm so clumsy! she thought to herself. I'm just tripping all over my feet and bumping into Po in front of the entire valley. Po probably felt so embarrassed! She quietly walked out of the barracks and crossed the grounds so as to head over to the training hall. She wanted to meditate before doing some practice runs on the training equipment. The masters had all agreed to relax during Shifu's time away from the Jade Palace, but Tigress didn't want to miss a day of training in case they needed to fight off bandits in Shifu's absence.

After a few minutes, the master finally reached the training hall where she entered it and began to stretch. She wanted to get a quick practice run in before anyone noticed that she wasn't in her room. (Especially Viper who had been put in charge of keeping her out of the training hall). Tigress stretched for a few minutes before she felt ready to perform on the training equipment. Before she could even lunge onto the spiral beams and smash some of the swinging clubs, she heard, "Tigress!"

Tigress jumped in surprise, turning around to see Viper right behind her.

"Tigress, you promised us no training for the week," Viper scolded.

"I can't help it!" Tigress told her in exasperation. "You know that's the one thing I'm good at. Plus, what if there's danger?"

"We'll take care of it," Viper promised. "It's only for a week."

Tigress let out a sigh. "Fine," she grumbled.

"Thank you. Now why don't we sit outside an talk about the festival? You didn't get to tell us about it when we went home because you got back late."

"I was helping to take down some of the decorations," Tigress answered her.

"I figured that."

Viper slithered outside with Tigress behind her, the two sitting down quietly in the training courtyard to talk.

"So...what exactly do you want to talk about?" Tigress asked.

"How did you enjoy the festival?"

"It was fine. I got to eat some good food, I walked around a bit and talked to people...I had fun."

"That's good," Viper told her with a smile. "I'm glad to see that you're starting to come out of your shell a little bit."

"I didn't realize I was in a shell," Tigress commented.

"Well you almost always do kung fu and you normally never come down and have fun at a festival unless we make you, so I'm glad to see you having more fun."

Tigress shrugged her shoulders. "I suppose," she said simply.

Viper cleared her throat. "So, Mr. Ping said he locked you two in the cellar, right?"

Tigress looked at her, casting her a small glare. "I don't want to talk about it," she said quickly.

"Po gave you a back massage," Viper continued, ignoring the death look. "What's so bad about that?"

"It's..."Tigress stammered, trying to find the right words to say to that. "It's just...it's no one's business. Yes, I got a back massage, but that isn't anyone's concern!"

"Why not?"

"Because...bec...I don't know!"

Tigress sighed and leaned back. After a second to collect herself, she said, "There are just some things I don't feel like talking about or informing people, and getting locked in a cellar and doing something...not hardcore isn't something I want people to know."

Viper smiled. "I thought that sounded kind of sweet," she pointed out to her friend. "You don't normally relax, so to hear that you're relaxing and actually enjoying yourself is nice to know."

Tigress sighed, leaning her elbows on her crossed legs so that she could set her face against her paws.

"There's something else bothering you, isn't there?" Viper said knowingly.

Tigress leaned back with a small groan and said, "Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when I was still resting from my ribs and Mr. Ping and I got attacked by bandits?"

"Of course I remember," Viper said. "We were all worried sick because you weren't used to fighting them off."

"Before they attacked us, they referred to me as Po's girlfriend," Tigress told Viper. "As did Mr. Ping."

"What's so bad about that?" Viper asked. "It's just a small misunderstanding."

"That's the point!" Tigress exclaimed. "I don't want people to get the wrong idea about Po and I. We are simply good friends and I don't want people to think that we're dating just because we got locked in the basement together or because he carried me back to the Jade Palace, or because-"

"Because you broke him from Shifu's mind control without taking off that necklace?" Viper suggested.

"Exactly. I am Po's friend and that is it. But it seems that whenever we do anything, Mr. Ping takes it as being romantic and I don't want people to get any ideas."

Viper smirked at her. Tigress gave her a look. "Don't get any ideas," she warned her friend.

"I'm not," Viper told her. "It's just...I think I might have an idea as to why Mr. Ping or other people might think you're dating."

"Well keep it to yourself," Tigress said. "I'm not in the mood to hear it."

Viper shrugged. "Suit yourself," she replied.

The gate opened up to reveal Po standing there with a grin. "There you two are," he exclaimed. "I have breakfast ready if you two are hungry."

"Sounds good to me!" Viper told him, slithering over. "Coming, Tigress?"

"I suppose," Tigress answered, standing up and walking over as well.

Po eyed her. "You weren't training, were you?" he asked sternly.

"Almost," Viper piped up, slithering away.

"Tigreeess..." Po said sternly.

"I just wanted to stay prepared," Tigress told him, walking out of the area with a smirk.

"Tomorrow," Po promised her. "When Shifu gets back."

He then followed the master to the kitchen, asking nervously, "So...how did you enjoy the festival?"

"It was fine," Tigress said. She glanced at Po before adding, "I'm sorry for being such a klutz during the dance."

"You weren't a klutz," Po assured her. "I mean, you didn't seem to know what you were doing when we first started, but you did fine until I changed speeds too fast and knocked you over."

"That's because I'm a horrible dancer," Tigress told him.

"You're pretty good once you get into a rhythm," Po answered.

"Thanks, but I'm still really bad."

Po grinned at her as they reached the kitchen, a pleasant aroma from the breakfast dumplings greeting them on the way in.

"There you are," Crane said to Tigress. "Trying to train again?"

"I'm assuming Viper told you that?" Tigress replied, sitting down at her spot at the table.

"She told everyone that, yes," Crane corrected, seeing the look on Mantis and Monkey's faces.

"What took you two lovebirds so long to get over here?" Mantis asked with a smirk, causing Tigress to nearly choke on her food and Po to turn red and duck away so that Tigress didn't see his face.

"What did you say?" Tigress demanded of the bug.

"Well, you two did take forever to get over here!"

"We were only a few seconds behind Viper," Tigress told him sharply. "That's the end of it!"

The masters at their breakfast in a somewhat awkward silence until finally, Monkey said, "So, how did you two enjoy the slow dance?"

Po's eyes grew wide as Mantis snickered.

"What?!" Crane exclaimed.

"Slow dance?!" Viper seconded. "Tigress, you didn't mention a slow dance!"

"You didn't ask," Tigress answered flatly.

"It wasn't on purpose!" Po stammered. "I beat her in a bet to dance and it just so happened that the slow dance was next!"

"Who told you that?!" Tigress demanded, glaring at Monkey.

"Mr. Ping," Monkey answered. "Mantis and I came in to get something to drink and he told us that he saw you two slow-dancing outside the noodle shop."

"Yep," Mantis added. "And he kept mentioning how cute he thought you two looked together."

The masters snickered in amusement as Po slammed his head against his paws with a groan. "We just talked about this!" he grumbled to himself.

Mantis went to say something else, but Viper and Tigress cast him a death look which kept his mouth shut. After a minute of eating in silence, Tigress said, "It was fine."

The silence was then broken and the masters fell back into talking vibrantly about how much they also enjoyed the festival the night before. After breakfast was finished and the dishes cleaned and put away, Monkey suggested going down to the village to hang out, but Po had another idea.

"There's a trail through one of the backwoods that goes by a lake," Po told his friends. "And I thought that we could go hiking around there this morning."

"A hike around a lake?" Viper said with a smile. "That sounds lovely!"

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Monkey exclaimed. "Lets go!"

The masters headed outside where they walked over towards the Jade Palace gates, walked down the Thousand Steps, and then followed Po through a small path in the woods nearby so as to head over to the lake. Viper took in the sights of the many flowers that lined the path and the trees alongside it, relaxing along with the rest of the masters. After they had been walking through the trail or about twenty minutes, Crane said, "This is really nice."

"I know!" Monkey added. "This is really relaxing!"

The six warriors finally reached the lake, standing besides it in order to catch their breath. It was slightly hot outside which wore them out even more, especially Po who was slighty heaving due to both the walk and the heat combined. The lake stood still in front of them, the calm water seeming to invite them inside.

"Anyone in the mood to go swimming?" Crane asked.

"Swimming?" Po asked. "But then we'd have to go back to the Jade Palace and grab our swimsuits and then we'd have to hike all the way b-AHHHHHH!"

Po flew into the water with Mantis standing right behind his original spot with a smirk on his face. "I agree!" he called over. "So why waste any time?!"

Po emerged from the water, coughing out any that got into his mouth. "Very funny!" he told his friend.

"I know!" Crane exclaimed. "I'd rather wear my swimsuit than go swimming in my clothes."

"Too bad!" Monkey said with a smirk, pushing the avion into the water. Crane landed in the lake with a cry of alarm as Monkey and Mantis followed him with two cannonballs and a "Cowabunga!" from Mantis.

Po laughed as Crane splashed around, clearly unhappy with Monkey pushing him into the lake. After a second, he finally took a breath and said, "Well, at least it's cool."

"Sounds good to me," Viper said, leaping into the water. She created a small splash which knocked Mantis underwater for a second with a cry of alarm. When she broke the water's surface, she said, "Sorry, Mantis."

Mantis coughed, trying to not choke on the water. "I'm fine," he assured her. "Just as long as no one else does anymore cannonballs."

"Tigress still has to come into the water," Po noted, glancing up at his friend.

"I'll pass," Tigress told him. "I don't feel like swimming."

"Aw, come on, Tigress!" Po pleaded. "It'll be fun!"

"No thank you, Po."

Po grinned. "Don't make me throw you in," he warned jokingly.

"You wouldn't dare..." Tigress said, a small smirk creeping a cross her face.

Po swam over towards the bank and hopped out and ran over towards the master with every intention of tossing her in.

"Po!" Tigress exclaimed, trying to dodge out of his way and making every effort to not laugh.

"Hold still, so I can get you in the lake!" Po said, chasing her around.

The masters already in the lake started laughing in amusement as they watched Tigress trying to stay away from Po who was trying his hardest to push her into the water. Finally, Po managed to scoop Tigress up, running towards the lake with her in his arms. Tigress tried to squirm free, but Po plunged into the lake, dragging the master with him. The two then emerged from the water, Tigress taking a breath as she had just barely managed to hold hers while under the water. As Po let out a victorious "Yes!", she grinned and splashed him in the face. Taken by surprise, Po swallowed some of the water and began to choke on it.

"That's what you get!" Tigress said, jokingly.

Po smiled mischievously and then proceeded to splash Tigress back.

"Hey!" Tigress exclaimed.

"Don't 'Hey' me," Po told her. "You started i-ACK"

Po coughed on more water that Tigress splashed in his face, prompting him to keep splashing her back.

"Water fight!"Viper exclaimed, splashing Crane.

"Hey!" Crane yelled, splashing her back, accidentally hitting Mantis in the process.

"Oh, it is on!" Mantis exclaimed.

The masters then proceeded to engage in a full out water fight, each master splashing whoever hit them with a water wave. Tigress, who was busy spashing Po back and forth, drop kicked him into the water and did a a powerful blast move that created a wave that knocked all of the masters under the water. When they emerged, they had no problem knocking her under the water with their own waves, causing the master to let out a cry of alarm. When she emerged, she found herself engaged in a water competition that resulted with everyone trying to physically push each other underwater. The masters played around in the water for a while, enjoying the game a lot since it gave them a chance to cool off from the heat. Everything went perfectly fine until, during one of the water rounds, Mantis kicked Po halfway across the pond, knocking him into Tigress and dragging her down with him.

"Alright!" Mantis exclaimed. "Double tackle!"

The two warriors emerged at the other end of the pond where they had landed, both of them trying to catch their breath.

"Are you two okay?" Viper called over.

"Huh?" Po asked, heavily panting. "Oh, yeah. We're fine. Nothing...broken."

Tigress crawled out of the lake, sitting on the side of the bank so as to catch her breath. "Maybe we should take a break," she suggested.

"A break?!" Monkey exclaimed. "But we're having fun!"

A loud rumble from Po's stomach interrupted the protest. "Sounds like it's lunch time," he told Monkey. "Besides, I have to head over to help my dad, so we should head back anyway."

"If you insist," Monkey said dejectedly.

He and the rest of the masters got out of the lake and began to head back to the Jade Palace so as to dry off and get lunch. Viper noticed that Tigress was walking slowly behind everyone, leaving her slightly behind the rest of the group.

"Tigress?" the serpent asked gently. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Tigress told her, trying to steady her breathing. "I'm just...thinking."

Viper eyed her, but then slithered after the rest of the group. Tigress hung back, lost in thought and feeling her head start to grow heavy as she remembered what had happened when Mantis knocked both her and Po into the water......

"AHHHHH!" came Po's voice.

Tigress managed to glance over and spot him come flying at her before she felt herself being knocked into the cool water. Any cries of alarm from her friends were instantly silenced when her and Po disappeared under the water. Tigress felt herself go sailing into the side of the lake, her and Po being squashed alongside of it. Tigress went to move Po off of her so that she could go up to the surface to get some air, but as she went to move, her and Po both locked eyes, the entire world feeling as if it had just stopped. Tigress felt herself being drawn to Po's eyes, as she had been the night before while they were dancing, again feeling just how physically close the two were. The master felt her head grow heavy once more, but the only thing that snapped her out of the trance was a sudden loss of air. Tigress felt all of the oxygen from her lungs escape her, leaving her with no way to breath under the water. In a panic, Tigress pushed Po away and darted up to the surface of the water where she finally caught her breath.

"Are you two okay?" came Viper's voice.

Tigress heard Po start to answer her, his voice ringing out in murmurs throughout her head. Feeling the heaviness come back, she quickly crawled out of the lake so that she could take a break and rest from the bizarre experience....

Tigress felt her eyes grow heavy and she quickly tried to snap herself back to real time so as to make it go away. Something is wrong with me, she thought to herself.

"Tigress?!" Viper called over, this time from far ahead.

The master quickly ran so as to catch up, hoping that no one would notice that something was wrong with her.