A/N: Summary: After all these years, Tai-Lung has returned and is ready for a rematch against the Dragon Warrior... Too bad he had to return the very same week that hes out of town for a few days. Luckily, his children are great company for the time being!

Contains: TiPo and some Tai-LungxOC later.

It had to have been years since he had been banished to the spirit realm, even if he hadn't changed. Even in the brief glimpse he had gotten of the outside world after his escape from prison, he was able to remember enough of it to know that something was terribly different about this specific village. The houses looked different, the people were new, and those he remembered seeing before almost looked ancient now. It both amazed and irritated him. Things looking some similar and yet so different- One might say that it almost made him feel unsettled.

Well, as unsettled as one may be after spending however long in prison and then a realm of spirits shortly afterwards. Coming back to the world was just a trip in and of itself.

"No matter... Things are not drastically changed... Perhaps he IS still around." The snow leopard mused, continuing his trek through the village.

He had "borrowed" a cloak from a passerby (poor soul) a few miles back. Its long hood was enough to keep any prying eyes from discovering who he truly was. The last thing he wanted now was to cause too much of a panic. That would give the Dragon Warrior a minute too many to prepare. No, he wanted to remain hidden until it was too late for anyone to do anything about it-

"Thanks for stopping in, come again!" A voice rang out from a nearby shop.

Not to say that the pitch was irritating, but it was enough to drag the former kung-fu master's attention away from the palace that lay some miles in the distance. The voice seemingly belonged to an old goose- who had one of those familiar faces for some reason. In the moment it took Tai-Lung to look at him, the goose's eyes were on him. In an instance, every strand of fur he hand was standing on end, and he quickly began to plot a way to swiftly kill the goose if he needed to-

"Ah! You sir! You look like a hungry traveler from somewhere I don't care to know of!" The goose called, waddling over to the leopard at an almost intimidating speed.

"O-oh! No, thats alright-" Tai-Lung hurried, about to step away.

"Nonsense. Everything is half off today with purchase of just ONE side item." The goose insisted, already pushing the larger male towards a restaurant's entrance. "You can't beat prices like that!"

"No... I'm sure you can't..." Just one good squeeze should kill that annoying bird-

"We really do have the best noodles in China." The goose continued. "Usually we're a lot busier, but-"

The bird tore away from Tai-Lung's side before the villain had a chance to ring his neck. He sprinted towards what must have been the kitchen at a speed that almost had the other impressed. And from the looks of it, the little panda and tiger cubs playing in a bowl of flour was the cause of his sprint.

"No! Bow! Lai-Ling!" The goose cried, casually tossing over his shoulder, " My name is Mr. Ping, by the way. Have a seat anywhere, my granddaughter will take care of you in a momen- TATI! We have a customer!"

If he weren't on a detour to killing the Dragon Warrior, Tai-Lung would have found the set-up to be amusing. But no matter, a quick stop was nothing at this point. He was close enough as is and no one seemed to have recognized him yet. A break almost sounded nice. So with a deep sigh, he took a seat at a corner table, one that was far enough away from what little crowd there was at the restaurant that he could be alone with his thoughts for a little while longer. At least until the goose's granddaughter arrived.

"I'm sorry, grandfather-" A female's voice sounded, just a few octaves too loud. "I tried to stop them-"

"Sorry doesn't take the orders, Tati." Mr. Ping huffed loud enough for most of the restaurant to hear. "Now, go take this nice man's order while I clean this up!"

Taking this as a warning that his moment's peace was ending, Tai-Lung lifted his gaze to the kitchen's exit. Much to his surprise, he didn't find a young goose in the doorway, rather she was a- tiger? She was tall and slender like one at least, but she had no stripes, just panda like markings in darker orange fur over her arms and black around her green eyes. A shock of longer tufts of orange, white, and black fur framed her face in the most bizarre way, but she wasn't too strange to look at, regardless of whatever she was.

She was almost pretty in a sense. Definitely nothing Tai-Lung had seen before. Just like the goose, her attention was almost instantly grabbed by his, and she hurried on over. All while retying a flour coated apron around her waist.

"I'm sorry about the wait-" She began, wiping some flour from her fur. "My siblings are hard to watch, and I'm still only a week on the job an-"

"Its alright, my dear." Tai-Lung cut in, trying to sound as kind as possible. "It looked like they were having fun... I assume that you're Tati?"

"Not fun when that flour comes out of my paycheck-" She huffed, "And yes I am."

"Ah. The family resemblance to your grandfather is- Uncanny." He said.

While Tai-Lung was never one to gab, he was beginning to figure that it may be the only way to properly ground himself in this strange world. While some things had remained the same, this new creature was just too big of a change for him. He had to know just how much different things were now- Or he felt that curiosity would truly kill him. Luckily, it already sounded like the young waitress was a chatty one.

"You should see my father then." Tati laughed, "He and my grandfather look like they were grown from the same tree most days."

"Your father?" He smiled kindly. "A goose?"

"A panda." Tati explained, giving a little nod of her head.

Well, that was certainly interesting. Something that was worthy of talking a little longer about. It would just be an act of asking the right questions and making the right comments to make this a conversation and not an interrogation.

"An orange panda like yourself?" That may have been a tad rude to assume, but whatever. It wasn't like he was going to see her again.

"Oh no. Hes a regular panda." Tati frowned, looking like she took offense to the comment. "My mother is a tiger though-"

Now, THAT was an interesting thing to note. A panda and a tiger in this area of China? Now, where had he seen that duo before other than the Jade Palace?

"A panda? Surely not the same panda that the universe sent to be the Dragon Warrior?" He noted the way that she took a step back from him, and let his smile slide down just a bit."

"That very one- Who would like to know?"

In a flash, the snow leopard had one, strong paw wrapped around the woman's wrist and pulled her down to the table so that she was eye level with him. Perhaps a premature reaction, but it might be a necessary one. He didn't need the warrior's child alerting anyone. That be even worse than his father.

"Tell me, Dragon Child," He began, using his free paw to push his hood back just a touch. "Do you remember hearing about your father's battle with a warrior called 'Tai-Lung'?"

Her green eyes widened a touch. Perhaps she took after her mother in the brains department.

"T-that was almost 20 years ago-" She whispered, "My father said he killed him-"

"He banished me to the Spirit Realm. All it took was waiting for a door to open for me to return." Tai-Lung hissed, his grip tightening slightly.

"Y-You-!?"

"Quiet..." Another hiss. "Now, if you don't want me to kill you now, then you'll tell me where your father might be, very quietly..."

"I can't." Tati said, wincing undoutably from the claws digging into her skin.

"And why not, Dragon Child?" He frowned, his patience for her wearing thin.

"I literally can't." Tati said, this time her voice firm. "He and my mother are on a two week long trip. There is no telling where they are or what time they will be back."

Tai-Lung's gaze went from merciful to deadly as he searched the woman's eyes for any signs of a lie. When he found none, he just continued to hold her arm. He hadn't thought of what to do with her if she answered that way- and killing her and the others now would give too much of a warning about his location- but he couldn't just let her go free now that she knew who he was.

"Now, either buy something or get out!" Tati's voice almost startled him, her tone just as deadly as his gaze was.

"Excuse me?" He snapped, gripping her arm once more. "You're not in a position to demand anything o-"

To his surprise, he was suddenly blinded by a flurry of flour being tossed into his eyes by Tati's free hand. In a moment of pain, he seemingly lost his grip on her arm, giving her just enough time to backhand him. It didn't hurt as badly as most things he endured, but it certainly surprised him.

"Ow! W-what- Why did yo-" He furiously wiped his eyes.

"I'm sorry, but you were being an ass," Tati sighed, rubbing her injured arm. "I was going to punch you, but then I saw the flour."

Golden eyes glared up into her green ones. Much to his surprise, he found that they were softened, almost with a hint of concern for him in them.

"You're apologizing? After I grabbed you and threatened to kill you?" The Dragon Child was more like her father than he first thought.

"Well, yes- It looked like it might have hurt you!" She said, as if it were the most obvious thing.

"Its flour! Of course it-"

The leopard stopped, just gawking up at this- creature for a moment. She truly was the strangest thing he had ever encountered, and that was next to a fat panda who managed to defeat him in battle! The whole encounter was so strange that it was almost funny. For the first time in his 60 (technically) years, he actually felt like laughing.

And so he did.

He laughed at this truly awkward, and bizarre set-up. A young woman throwing flour in his face when threatened with death, then apologizing for it anyway... The same young woman whose father he was coming to kill- Whose mother he had almost succeeded in killing all those years ago. Truly, this was the most awkward and yet hilarious situation he had ever found himself in.

Tati seemed to think so too, as even she had begun to laugh.

"Terribly sorry, my dear." He spoke between laughter. "Any idea when your parents might be returning?"

"Not for another week or so." She replied, taking a small pad of paper and a brush out of her apron pocket. "Are you going to order something?"

Taking a moment to consider it, he reached into his robe pocket and withdrew a small sack of coins that belonged to the garments original owner and weighed it in his paw. There was definitely enough in there for a week of eating here.

"Just a bowl of broth." Tai-Lung sighed, waving the woman off.

"The half off special doesn't apply to you since you tried to kill me." Tati said. "Is that okay?"

"... Yes."

"Good."

She nodded, took down the order, and left. Leaving a group of clients awkwardly watching the cloaked leopard in the corner of the restaurant.