Year of the Tiger
By corset-rebellion-follower
Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda
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Chapter 1- The Return
12th of Lotamens
It's been four years. Four years ago is when the World Championship Noodle-Off came to the Valley of Peace. It's been four years since Mrs. Ping and Dongwa came into our lives. And it's been four years since Tigress went off with Dongwa out of the Valley and to university.
I'm eighteen now, and a woman. Tigress has written since she left, but it's very hard to get mail out here. Another reason that I hate living in the middle of nowhere. But the good news is that she's coming back today. She'll be surprised to see how much this place has changed!
Master Mantis now goes down to the shop often and helps the Pings with their work. They're no longer of the best physical condition, though they are very fit for their age. Master Shifu doesn't approve very much of this, but he supports his student and doesn't say anything about it.
The other masters of the Jade Palace go about their business as usual, training and learning new kung fu formations. I often go up there to visit with Viper. She misses Tigress a lot; they were best friends.
Po is doing very well as Dragon Warrior with his training. He's lost a lot of extra weight, and he's very handsome now. I hear many of the village girls talking excitedly about how brave, and how sweet, and how wonderful he is. Though he is very impressive in his studies, I still roll my eyes at these conversations. He's not a god, for pete's sake!
Mother and Father are well, and are eagerly awaiting Tigress' return. Father's carpenter business increases, but he claims his success is because I visit him so often and that the boys only come to see me, not to order furniture. However, my heart belongs to no one at this point. I'm heading back to my former belief that boys my own age are exactly that: little immature boys with nothing going on in their heads.
I don't know how Tigress did it. She and Dongwa just meshed together, and it was so easy for her! But I suppose that the best things in life are worth working for. So maybe her homecoming will bring me good luck in love. Or maybe I'll be spending another year alone or with someone I think is an idiot.
How I pine for someone like Dongwa to sweep me off my feet! I made Tigress tell me the entire story of what happened between her and Dongwa before she left and I wrote it down so that I would always remember it. It's so beautiful and poetic and romantic! A true life fairytale.
From the little letters I've received from her, she and Dongwa are not yet married. This is the longest courtship that I've heard of, even longer than Mother and Father's. They only courted for six months before they got married. And they're some of the lucky ones, ones who didn't have to get an arranged marriage. I would hate that. How could anyone marry someone that they've never met? I would rather die than get an arranged marriage. But I suppose it wouldn't be in my power to decide whether or not I get an arranged marriage. That's up to Mother and Father. But Father says he would never force me into a marriage, not as long as he's mentally sound. I always laugh at this, but sometimes I don't really believe him. Arranged marriages bring in a lot of money. Sometimes I wonder if I could just be a source of inco—
"Clover, are you ready yet? Tigress will be arriving soon, we don't want to be late!" Mingxia called.
She closed the journal and stood up. "Yes, Mother, I'm coming!" She smoothed her paws over her new spring green dress. It had beautiful butterflies embroidered on it in golden thread. The dress emphasized the curve of her hip and bust line that weren't there when she was fourteen.
She walked to a mirror and ran a brush through her fur, smoothing it. Her hazel eyes sparkled back at her, and she smiled before putting the brush down and opening the door. Her mother stood there, waiting patiently.
Mingxia grinned. "You look beautiful, Clover. Tigress will barely recognize you!"
"And I probably won't recognize her. Who knows what four years of living in a city has done to her. She might even actually be a bit ladylike." The two women walked out of the house together. Shan was waiting for them.
He smiled. "The two most beautiful women in the world. How did I ever get so lucky?" he asked happily. Clover blushed.
"Thank you, Father."
"Come. We have a long way to walk to the Jade Palace, and we don't want to be late." The small family started the trek towards the monument on the top of the mountain. Clover thought about what she had said to her mother about Tigress.
How has she changed? Will she be so refined and cultured now? She shook her head. No. If I know my sister, she probably spent the last four years teaching kung fu to people at the university. She'll still be her old, feisty self. She spent the rest of the walk up batting different thoughts around, thinking of all the different ways that Tigress and Dongwa might look after all this time.
For Dongwa's sake, Tigress better not have a growing belly. I know she said they weren't married, but that was months ago. They could have had a wedding ceremony or eloped by now. They reached the Jade Palace and knocked on the huge doors. Zeng was the one who answered it, and addressed them with his normal stutter.
"Shan, and Mingxia, M-master Shifu is expecting you." They proceeded to the arena, where Master Shifu, Po, Viper, Mantis, Crane, Monkey, and The Pings were all waiting. Shan immediately went over to Master Shifu and started quietly talking with him. Mingxia was talking to Mrs. Ping, who was going on about Dongwa.
"Finally, after four years, I'm seeing my boy again!"
Viper slithered over to Clover. "Hi, Clover. Wow, you look great! I keep forgetting how much you've grown since Tigress left. You're probably the same height now."
Clover smiled. "Thank you. You look nice too. Do you know when she's going to get here?" Viper shook her head.
"Don't I wish. It might be a while, since they have to walk up all those steps. And it's a very long walk to begin with." Clover was worried that Tigress hadn't gotten to the Valley at all. What if they never got past the Thread of Hope? It's a long journey.
She shook her fears away and tried to be cheerful. "I hope they get here soon."
"Me too! Ooh, I can barely take the anticipation!" Clover wished she could have been as cheerful as Viper was. But she felt a slight aura of doom. What if this is all a disaster? What if something happened to them and someone's coming to tell us about the tragedy?
Po shuffled over to them. "H-hey, Clover. What's up?" he asked nervously.
"Hello, Po."
Viper smirked.
"You excited? To, you know, see Tigress again?"
"Yes. I've missed her very much."
Po blushed. "T-that's great. I'll see you later, then." And he shuffled off again.
Viper giggled. "What?" Clover asked.
"He thinks you're cute," Viper teased.
"He's a little too old for me, Viper. And I haven't even thought of him like that since I was fourteen!"
"Yes, but when you were fourteen you didn't have all that you do now," Viper said.
Clover crossed her arms over her chest. "You know, I kind of miss being a kid. At least then men looked me in the face instead of in the breasts."
Zeng ran back to the group. "They're here! Master Tigress has arrived!" Everyone stopped talking and silently watched.
Meifeng was the first to appear, smiling broadly. "Hello, everyone. It's wonderful to see you again." Mingxia stepped forward and hugged her.
"It's wonderful to see you again, Meifeng. It's been far too long."
"It has. I'm so sorry that we didn't visit you over all these years, but Dongwa's classes were very demanding. He's been working so hard," Meifeng explained. As if on cue, Dongwa appeared. He still had the same warm grin and handsome face.
"Well, I wasn't expecting an entire welcoming committee. But I supposed that it's not really for me." He looked behind him, grinning broadly. Tigress finally came into view, smiling brightly.
"Hello, everyone."
A/N: Okay, I have been waiting FOREVER to post this. I started writing this a few weeks ago, but I wanted to finish My Own Destiny first. So everyone enjoy! Holla!