"Inner Peace." Tigress exhaled. Her ears twitched as the wind rustled through the peach blossoms. "Inner Peace." One fruit tumbled to the ground and rolled beside her paw. She opened her eye slightly and glared down at it. Tail twitching in frustration, she resumed her meditation."Inner Peace."
"But she is not the Dragon Warrior."
"But she is not the Dragon Warrior."
"But she is not the Dragon Warrior."
The words echoed in her mind."Inner-" The second word got stuck in her throat. Her ruby eyes flashed open as it finally escaped in the form of a blood-curdling roar. Her heavy breathing slowly returned to normal as tears began to form in her eyes. She lifted a paw to wipe them away.
"Master Tigress?"
Her ears perked up and her head spun around to see Li Shan standing at the top of the stairs. A single tear ran down her cheek. She ignored it hoping he hadn't noticed.
"A-are you okay?" The bear questioned.
Tigress turned her focus back to the dark purple sky blanketing the valley. Avoiding eye contact. "Of course I am."
"I heard screaming and thought you were hurt or something." He inched forward hesitantly to see if she'd allowed him to down beside her. She put up no protest. Instead her lips curled into a warm smile.
"I'm fine. But thank you anyway for your concern."
"Then why were you screaming?" She gave no reply. "Stressful day?" He chuckled.
She growled deep in her throat and glared at the panda.
Li quickly looked down in guilt. Probably shouldn't have said that. His jade green eyes spotted the peach sitting on the ground.
"Go ahead." Tigress rolled it towards him. But he didn't pick it up. Instead his gaze shifted back up to the tiger.
" Are you sure you're not hurt." He laid a paw on her shoulder.
The tiger gasped. Her immediate instinct was to smack him away. But instead her expression dropped as her eyes burned with even more tears than before.
" Years." She gulped. "Years I trained so hard. Harder than I probably should have."
She glanced over at Li who nodded to indicate that he was listening.
"For years I punched the Ironwood trees outside the palace. I destroyed the bones in my paws, waited for them to heal, and continued. Years I pushed myself to the limits. I climbed mountains to carry my comrades to safety. I faced and defeated armies single handedly….Po is the Dragon Warrior. I've accepted that. And he's an amazing one. He's an amazing friend…But all Shifu had to say was that I'm not the Dragon Warrior. That's all he had to say after everything I've done to prove to him that I'm more than that." She squeezed her eyes shut. "If you'll excuse me." She stood up and was about to leave.
"Wait!" Li grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug.
Tigress didn't know what to do. She gulped." Li would you please let go of me?" She didn't want to yell at him but he was defiantly pushing some boundaries.
"I'm sorry. I know I'm not the one you want to hear it from but I am." He backed away from her but kept a grip on her arm." I understand how much it hurts. I know from experience that things almost never turn out the way you planned. But you can't use that as an excuse to be miserable…You just can't."
Tigress's anger melted away as she wrapped her arms around the panda and buried her face in his fur. Sobbing.
"That's it. Just let it out." He continued to pat her on the back.
A soft "Thank you" escaped her throat.