A Week Full of Pandas

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"Po! Why don't you just get to the point?!"

"I am on point, Tigress! How could you say that?!" Po shouted.

"All I am saying is that why don't you take your class seriously?! I mean, we're not pandas, Po!" Tigress shouted back.

"Come on guys, it's not that serious!" Viper said, trying to stop the argument. "Po, why don't you just listen to Tigress? She is also right. We can't do stuff like pandas."

"You guys are telling your teacher how to teach? I mean, I am the Dragon Warrior."

"Yes, and Dragon Warrior can't take our class seriously? Po, I got an arrow stuck into my butt 10 times just because of you!" Tigress said. Monkey and Mantis held their laughter at the 'butt' part.

"Then just don't attend the class, Tigress!" Po shouted back. "I am not an expert teacher yet! I know I can train pandas, but it will need me some time to master teaching the Furious Five, okay?"

"Huh! You just don't want to accept your mistake." Tigress said.

"That's it, Tigress! I don't want to even see your face! You better not attend my class." Po said, getting hurt.

"Yeah, ok. I am leaving your class. I can even leave the Jade Palace if you don't want to see my face!" she said.

"That would be nice." Po said, looking away. Tigress felt hurt form inside that Po wanted her to leave the palace.

"Yeah, right. Okay. I am going." She said, stomping out.

"Guess you said too much, Po." Mantis said.

"Forget about her, guys. Let's continue."

"What the heck does he thinks he is?!" Tigress murmured, walking through the Sacred Hall of Heroes. She went to Master Shifu's room and knocked.

"Yes." Shifu permitted. She entered.

"Sorry to disturb, Grandmaster." She said, bowing.

"Of course not, Tigress. You're welcomed. Do you need something?" Shifu said. He could see anger in her face.

"I need a permission, Master." She said.

"I think your teacher gives you permission, Tigress."

"No, master. I need a break from him." She said.

"What?"

"I need a break from him. I need a break from this so called 'training'. I need a break from all this stress. That means, I want to take leave from the Jade Palace."

"You want to take leave? You want to leave the Jade Palace? For how long, Tigress?

"Maybe 1 or 2 weeks." She said.

"Alright, but what's matter? Did something happened between you two?" Tigress told him everything. "I see. But where will you live those 2 weeks?" She thought for a while and then said something in his ear. "Hmm... I think that place is okay. Alright Tigress, but please take care of yourself. And be careful."

"Yes master. A few days ago, Po told me that his dad is going there, maybe I can join him. And please don't tell anyone about where I am gone. I just want to be alone for some time." She said.

"Okay. Take care, Tigress."

*Tigress's POV*

I made sure no one is looking before I came out of my room. I was wearing a black coat and a hood to prevent myself getting recognized. Slowly and silently, I made it to the gates of the palace, and left it. I made my way down the thousand stairs, to the Noodle Shop.

"Master Tigress, you're ready?" asked Li Shan. I had talked to him and told him my plan yesterday.

"Yes, Li." I answered.

"So let's go."

We started walking. After leaving the valley, we reached the Thread of Hope. Then the Rocky Mountains and canyons. Li Shan was kinda slow, which was annoying me a bit. But he's a panda after all, he can't walk as fast as I could. After some time, he started panting.

"Master Tigress, let's stop for lunch." He said. I stopped and looked at him as if he was serious.

"So soon?" I asked. I saw him lying on the ground, breathing heavily. He sometimes reminds me of Po. "Ok, let's stop for a lunch." We stopped there for lunch.

"So, what made you leave the Jade Palace and come with me, Master Tigress?" he asked.

"Uh... I had an argument with your son yesterday, I am just tired of his mistakes. That's why I needed break. He can't teach a single class properly."

"Well, I have to admit Little Lotus is just like me." He said, smiling and putting a dumpling in his mouth. I looked at him. "I mean, I also used to bother my wife a lot." He said, laughing out loud. "We fought each other a lot."

"Does it relates anything?" I asked seriously. He looked at me. "I mean Po's mother was your wife, and Po is my comrade. So does this make sense?" I asked, glaring. I was already mad at Po, and Li was comparing us with him and his wife.

"Uh, I meant no offence, Master Tigress." He said quickly. "What I meant was, the closest people fight a lot."

"Yeah, thanks for telling me." I said, looking away. "Anyway, you didn't tell anyone we're going to the Panda Village together, right?"

"Yeah, no one knows that you're with me. Not even Ping." He replied. I nodded. "Hehe, you know I am very good at lying. I can even lie to my own son, and he can't find out." He said, smiling. I responded with a smile. After lunch, we continued moving. And we finally reached the snow mountain where our destination was located. I remembered the last time I had to climb the mountain to get up.

"This way, Master Tigress." Li said, leading me. I raised an eyebrow wondering what was going on in his mind. He led me to a rope hanging down. He pulled the rope, I was surprised to see it was lift type thing.

"What's this?" I asked. He smiled at me.

"This is a panda invention. It's called a lift." He said. I noticed a rock hanging on the other side of the rope. Wow, I had to admit these pandas are really wise, as well as good inventors. We finally reached the Panda village.

"Finally, we made it."

*Normal POV*

At the Jade Palace...

Po was teaching his class. "Where is Tigress?" He asked. Everyone looked at each other, no one knew why was Tigress absent in the class.

"Tigress has left the Jade Palace." Shifu said from behind.

"What?" Everyone asked. "Where is she gone?"

"That's a secret between me and her. I'll not tell you where and for how long she's gone." Shifu told. Po was thinking that maybe Tigress has taken his words too seriously.

"Huh! She is just showing her attitude." Po said. "I don't care. Let's begin guys."

In the Panda Village...

Tigress, Li Shan, Grandma Panda and Mei Mei were in Li's hut, sitting next to a fireplace.

"...And that's why I came here." Tigress, who was drinking her tea and was sitting on her armchair with Lei Lei climbing on her head and saying 'stripy baby is back', finished telling her story.

"So, Po is mad at you?" Mei Mei asked.

"No, I am mad at him." Tigress said a bit annoyed. "I just want a break from him, the Jade Palace, all those responsibilities, and... everything."

"I see Lotus annoys you a lot, just like I annoyed my wife. Hahahaha!" Li said sarcastically. Everyone stared at him, Tigress raised an eyebrow.

"Li, would you please stop pulling your wife in this?" she asked.

"Yeah, right."

"So, can I please stay here for a few weeks?" she asked.

"Of course you can. We'll be honored to serve you, Master Tigress." Grandma Panda said, smiling. Tigress smiled back at her.

"Thank you." She thanked her. Grandma smiled and started leaving the room with Mei Mei.

"Hope you'll enjoy 'Panda Company' with us, Master Tigress." Mei Mei said, bowing respectfully to the tiger master. Tigress smiled and nodded. Mei Mei left the hut with Grandma, leaving Tigress and Li there.

"I hope I won't be bothering you, Li." Tigress said to Li Shan, while taking Lei Lei off her head and placing her in her lap.

"Of course not, Master Tigress. I am glad I got a company." He said, smiling. "Maybe you should rest, you must be tired. Should I prepare your bed?"

"Oh, no, no. I am fine. Please don't bother." She said. Li smiled at her and went to kitchen to prepare something to eat. Tigress looked at Lei Lei, who had fallen asleep in her lap. "Well, I guess Lei Lei got a company."

Li was in the kitchen, preparing some dumplings. He came back into the room. "Master Tigress, do you want something to eat?" He then noticed that Tigress had fallen asleep on her armchair with Lei Lei in her lap. He smiled and wrapped a blanket around her. "I guess she is very tired."

In the Jade Palace...

"I think that's enough for today, guys." Po said to the Four. They gave a bow to their teacher and jumped out of the training course.

"I think you're improving in teaching, Po." Viper said smiling.

"Thanks, Viper." Po said. "I hope Tigress might be okay." He murmured.

"Pardon me?"

"N- Nothing." Po said, quickly getting out of the training hall. Viper smiled.

"He does care for her." She said.

Then in the dinner time...

"Order up!" Po said, passing each of them the bowls. Then Po realized that he prepared noodles for 6 people.

"Po, did you forgot that Tigress isn't here?" Monkey asked.

"Uh, yeah, I have my habit." Po said awkwardly, removing one bowl from the table. "Where actually is she? Do you guys have any idea?" everyone looked at each other and shook their heads. Po sighed. "I don't know why she acts like this. I don't think our argument was so big that she left the palace secretly without us knowing where she is." Po said, eating his noodles.

"Hehe, looks like Po is too worried for her." Mantis teased. "Maybe Tigress has become his star-pupil."

"It's not anything like that! It was me who asked her not to attend my class." Po said, annoyed. "She is just showing her attitude."

Next morning in the Panda Village...

Tigress woke up and saw it was morning. She noticed that she was still on her armchair. Lei Lei was still in her lap. "I think I was in deep sleep, that's why Li didn't woke me up." She thought. Carefully, she picked up Lei Lei and lied her on the armchair, and started looking for Li. She found that Li was still sleeping. "How much do these pandas sleep?" She needed to do something to pass time. She went outside the hut and looked at the panda village. It was so beautiful. Snow covering the mountains, and sun peeking out from behind two mountains. And down the mountain was the village, the scenery was so beautiful. It reminded her scenery of the Valley of Peace from the Peach Tree Hill. She couldn't help but give a slight smile. She sat down in a lotus pose, looking at the village. It was so peaceful, maybe way too peaceful, 'cause all the pandas were sleeping. She might be only person in the village who was awake. She closed her eyes and started to meditate.

When she opened her eyes, 3 hours had passed. She still had sometime, so she decided to train. After all, she is not attending Po's so-called 'class', she decided to train herself. She took her stance and started practising her Tai Chi skills to clam her mind, so she can focus.

Li was sleeping, when he heard something. "Huh? What was that?" He could hear low kung fu shouts.

Tigress was practising her skills. "Up so soon?" She heard someone saying. She looked back to see Li Shan.

"It's almost noon." She said, breathing heavily. "But sorry if I disturbed you."

"No, it's okay. And of course, it's noon. We pandas sleep till past noon." He said. Tigress snickered at his reply.

"Now I see why Po gets late for his own class." She replied, controlling her giggle.

"Yes. Maybe." He said. "Now come, let's have the breakfast." He said, leading her in. "You were in a so deep sleep last night that you didn't even ate anything."

"Yeah, maybe that's why my stomach is grumbling since this morning." She said, taking a seat next to the table.

"Good morning, Stripy Baby." Lei Lei came.

"Good Morning, Lei Lei." Tigress said, picking up Lei Lei.

"I saw a dream that you, me and Cuddles were on a picnic and we were having fun." She said. Tigress's expression changed. Lei Lei also knew that Tigress and Po were really close friends. "Stripy Baby?"

"Um... I don't know about Cuddles, Lei Lei. But you and me can play." She said, trying not to think about Po.

"But why not Cuddles? I thought you and Cuddles are closest friends." Lei Lei said innocently.

"I said it's not anything that! I want nothing to do with Po!" She said getting annoyed, almost scaring Lei Lei. Lei Lei looked at Li Shan, who shook his head, gesturing her not to talk about Po.

At the Jade Palace...

Everyone was doing breakfast. Po was sitting, holding a dumpling in his chopsticks, but not eating it. He was looking at the empty chair opposite to his, where Tigress used to sit and eat breakfast with them, smiling at their jokes, but not laughing. She only laughed at Po's jokes, which were usually childish or made no sense. She just laughed at them so Po won't get upset that no one understands to his jokes. Po also knew that she fake laughed at his jokes just to chill him, he wasn't so silly. But he felt good that how much Tigress cares about that she doesn't him to get upset. Honestly, she loved Po's childish activities, that how innocent Po was.

"For the 10th time: Po!" Viper yelled, bringing Po back to reality.

"Huh? What?" Po asked.

"Will you come out of your thoughts about Tigress?" She asked, everyone started laughing.

"What? What makes you think I was thinking about Tigress?" Po asked.

"You're staring at her chair. This does."

"No. I was just... thinking what are we gonna learn today." Po said, looking away. "I just have nothing to do with her." Po couldn't help but realize that he was missing Tigress, who might be having fun in the unknown location. He stood up and started leaving. "No training today, guys." Everyone looked at each other, confused.

To Be Continued...

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