A short oneshot about Tigress' thoughts during the capture in KFP2.
Numb
"You will be part of something beautiful…"
She growls at the smug bird with pure hatred but despite everything, she doesn't struggle because he is gone… and it hurts so much that nothing else matters…
That flash of utter horror, she hadn't been fast enough, she wasn't strong enough… Good enough. The look of complete misery on Po's face at the peacocks words, shattering his entire world, 'your parents didn't love you', she herself was an orphan, adopted, she often wondered that same question, 'did my parents love me?' but to have your enemy tell you that… She roars an enraged snarl, barrelling through bandit after bandit, flipping over heads with all her years in training, then there's the grind of the deadly weapon, dropping down and aiming straight at Po, at the panda who had brought such life, joy, happiness to everyone… to her.
"No!" She cried, the bang echoing through her mind the instant it happens, she just wasn't quite good enough and in a flash of light, he was gone, whizzing past her and leaving her there on a crumbling wooden platform, frozen to the spot, looking out the hole in the wall silently. Something happened then, something changed in that second and she dropped to the ground, collapsed, fell to her knees from the shock… He was gone… Po… was gone…
"We have to stay strong… for Po. Hardcore, right Tigress?" Monkey prompts trying to raise everyone's spirits but she doesn't respond, her eyes close and a single lone tear falls down her cheek. She isn't hardcore, if she were, she wouldn't be wishing it was over already because this pain… is far more than she ever felt punching the iron wood trees, even as her knuckles bled and her bones cracked… It didn't hurt this badly… No where near as badly, not as she worked hour after hour, training, muscles begging for a rest and screaming in protest… It was nothing compared to this. Hardcore? Physical attacks… She could take them, over and over again, but… emotional ones, she'd tried so hard to become cold, harsh and unforgiving so nothing could touch her. Then Po came, shattering her dreams, stealing her purpose, trying to make her smile with his food, his jokes, his clumsy exterior then fixing her dreams, giving meaning, forgiving her for what she'd done to him in the beginning… making her smile at his food, his jokes, his clumsy exterior… Making her… warm, her glacier cold heart melting under his daft ideas… His warm laugh and ever present nervousness and his awe to all things kung fu… And he was gone.
"The hardcore doesn't understand."
She hadn't felt angry at him, just… sombre, sad and contrary to his words, understanding and before she could question her actions she lunged at him.
"Tigress!" Several anxious cries sounded behind her but she paid no heed, wrapped her arms around and hugged the panda who stood stock still with shock, his heartbeat erratic. Silence falling over them all in that moment.
"The hardcore do understand," Tigress said softly and she pulled back and met his gaze firmly. "But I can't watch my friend be killed…" She added, looking into jade eyes before releasing his shoulders and walking towards the door... She understood him perfectly… He just hadn't known it…
There's a loud and increasingly familiar bang, drawing her attention and she opens her eyes in time to see a bridge exploding and she glares viciously as the civilians scream, running from the blast.
"Coward!" She roars furiously. Firing at defenceless villagers? It's disgusting! He's a pathetic excuse of a peacock! ... The chains rattle at her shout before she slumps down again, her head hanging and she feels the weight drop back onto her shoulders again, pressing her down, her breathing heavy. She'd let Po down, failed her friend… Her best friend… and now she was going to fail everyone else…
"Po, what are you doing?" She asked with a cautiously curious look and the panda span around hurriedly, eyes wide in shock with his hands behind his back.
"Nothin'…" He mumbled through a mouthful of something but that in itself and the cookie crumbs around his mouth stated otherwise.
"… Are those… Monkey's cookies?" Tigress questioned, noticing the very distinct vase hidden behind the Dragon Warriors back and she stepped into the pantry smoothly and leaned around the panda to look at it pointedly. She wasn't fooled… Clearly.
"Maybe?" Po smiled sheepishly. "You want one?" He offered whilst holding out the jar, bargaining for her silence and the feline folded her arms a moment at his attempt before, much to the panda's astonishment, reaching in and taking a cookie.
"Don't look so shocked… And if you tell anyone I have a sweet tooth, I'll be telling Monkey EXACTLY where all his cookies have vanished too," She warned before poking Po's belly meaningfully and her friend nodded his agreement as the feline bit into the cookie.
"So… I hear he's got another jar in his room…"Po stated offhandedly.
"… Really?"
"Yup… a WHOLE jar."
"Hm… We should… investigate."
"Yeah, kung fu… training and all… stealth right?"
"Right…"
"Shall we… y'know, not mention this to anyone?"
"Probably for the best."
No more midnight cookie feasts, no more stupid little moments that they kept secret like the domino match or their daily meditation under the Peach Tree… No more of the sparring matches. No more Po... Tigress doesn't want to be hardcore anymore, she want's to be numb, so far beyond cold that it can't be seen, unable to feel at all because without the panda, the world seems… so much bleaker, emptier and much too cold… Icy cold… She shivers at the chasm left behind in the space where part of her heart once resided...
Sorry if I got what some of the characters said wrong and yes, I made up that last memory. So review?