A/N: So here I am… With a whole new story… I know that I already have two incomplete stories, but I just couldn't help myself! I got the idea and it kept haunting my brain. So I decided to give it a shot. Quick info: I am from Denmark and there will therefore be some spelling-mistakes. Forgive me.
This story will start before the first Kung Fu Panda film; actually it will take place in 'Secrets of the Furious Five'. But that's just for the start. We will later reach the first and second film so Po will be in this story.
Another important notice is that because Fenghuang only exist so far in the tv-serie. And because I live in the little land Denmark, we can't see all episodes yet. Actually we only have the half of the first season so far. That means that I have only seen one episode with her, and my idea of her character of course comes from there. So sorry if she's a little different in the original version, but I don't really have other options. *sighs*
I do not own Kung Fu Panda. Never have and never will.
Spread Your Wings, Little Too Late
Blinking with her purple eyes the owl didn't say a word. The caretaker watched her nervously; the little information she had gotten weren't enough to calm her. "Miss…"
"Hua," the owl finished for her.
After clearing her throat nervously the caretaker continued, "Miss Hua, I don't believe you have told me where you live."
"I am sure you don't know of it. My home lies far away," the owl told her, still avoiding an answer. The situation didn't make her nervous at all; actually she was acting like the talk bored her.
The caretaker removed her eyes from her and glanced at her paper. Again she couldn't help but notice the many missing information. "Miss Hua, you still haven't…"
In the same moment the owl leaned herself closer to the sheep that let out a gasp in surprise. "We both know that I am the child's only chance." She paused while her purple eyes glared down the caretaker, "And wouldn't you do what is best for the little girl?"
Finally, the sheep had to agree and soon the owl was walking out from the office, satisfied with the decision. Of course she had known that this part would be hard, but none of them would in reality be able to stop her from getting what she wanted. She had just decided to take it the peaceful way.
She was easy to find; the other children were either inside or had went home with their new parents. Of course, she being the only tiger made it obvious. She was sitting in the courtyard alone, her form clearly depressed over getting rejected once again.
Disappointment. That was what Tigress felt. Turning the domino in her little paw she couldn't hold back a sigh. Maybe she just shouldn't have hoped for so much? At least the other children weren't afraid of her. But now most of them had been adopted and she was once again alone.
Now when she was finished with her training she couldn't even look forward to her meetings with Master Shifu. But maybe, next adoption day… Just maybe…
"Tigress?"
The little tiger froze to the sound of the voice. It didn't belong to any of the caretakers or the other orphans, and it definitely didn't belong to Master Shifu. Turning around to squeeze her eyes into a suspicious glare, Tigress asked, "Who are you?"
"I," she puffed out her clothed chest, "am Hua. And you must be Tigress." She tilted her head to look her over, as if she was trying to find all of her strengths and weaknesses.
Tigress stared back, unimpressed. "What do you want?" She had completely forgotten the good manners Shifu had tried to teach her in her irritation over getting disturbed while she was in a bad mood.
"I've heard about things about you, Tigress," the owl told her, making the child even more nervous. Hadn't her training with Shifu been enough? Were they going to take her away? What was going to happen? She hid her anxiety under a scowl. "Things that told me that you might want to come with me home," the owl continued, and the scowl instantly disappeared.
"You…" Tigress couldn't bring herself to say the words.
Though, the owl did it for her, "Adopted you? Yes."
The cub only stared at her. Feeling uncomfortable in the stunned silence the owl nervously moved her feet. This weren't supposed to happen. What had gotten wrong? Tilting her head once again she asked, "You do want to go with me home, don't you, Tigress?"
Instantly Tigress' face lightened up. "Of course, Miss Hua. Please forgive me," she said and gave a little bow as Shifu had taught her. She glanced up to see the owl smiling down to her.
"Then go get your belongings so we can start our travel," she hummed.
Tigress hesitated for a moment, but then picked up the dominoes that were lying on the table. She held them close to her body as if they were some precious, beloved doll. As she started to walk towards her room she carefully looked over her shoulder to check if her new parent still was following her.
It all seemed like a dream, and Tigress wasn't sure how to react. This was her dream, to be accepted, wanted, loved. But still she was afraid to believe it. She couldn't handle another disappointment. Tigress had to admit that Miss Hua wasn't exactly when she had imagined when she thought of a mother. A part of her was a little scared of her purple, intense eyes. The owl didn't exactly look like the normal people who came here, even though it was hard to tell because most of her body was covered in a dark colored cloak. But maybe it was because of her fabric covered body that she didn't seem like other parents.
Tigress silently walked through the orphanage, the owl following her. The children who were brave enough to stick out their head to see what was happening widened their eyes in shock. The sight of the mysterious stranger and the tiger wasn't something they did see every day.
But as they stood in front of the door Tigress hesitated again. The owl looked at her shortly before pushing the prison-looking door open by herself. Tigress, who expected her adopter to gasp at the destroyed room, was surprised when the owl didn't change her expression at all.
The owl made a gesture for her to continue and Tigress slowly walked into her room, still secretly glancing at Miss Hua. Why didn't this scare her away? The broken toys and floorboards? The claw marks on the wall? Didn't any of that made her change her mind?
As Tigress started to pick up some dominoes that were lying on the floor the owl took a closer look on one of the wall's scars. Holding up her wing she carefully examined the claw mark. For a moment Tigress stopped what she was doing to stare at the owl with big eyes. Even though she wanted to hide it the shame was visible in her eyes.
The owl caught her glance and suddenly she let her wing run down the wall. When she moved it again there was now a long, deep mark beside the one Tigress had made long time ago. The tiger cub's eyes only became even bigger. The owl chuckled at her shocked face, "You see, Tigress, I do not fear strength. I appreciate it."
Tigress hesitated with opening her mouth, but finally she decided to speak, "I can control it. Shifu taught me."
"I've heard so," the owl said shortly before leaning down to look Tigress in her eyes, "I can turn your strength into something wonderful."
Blinking a little, Tigress asked, "You can teach me? Like Shifu did?"
"Shifu," the name tasted weird in her mouth, "tried to make sure that people wasn't scared of you. Tried," she said again, making it obvious that he had failed. "You are not normal, Tigress."
The cub flattened her ears while crouching to the ground, fearing the worst. "You are better." In that moment Tigress dared to look at the owl again. Had she really meant it? Her adopter continued, "I can make people adore you, because you are something that they can never be. Your powers aren't to be hidden, but to be used."
"You will help me?" Tigress asked again, confused over the owl's behavior.
"Of course, my dear. When we are home I will…"
"Where's 'home'?" Tigress asked without realizing that she had disturbed the owl's speech.
Glancing at her, she answered, "Far away from here. I hope you like travelling, Tigress."
"I do," the tiger said instantly. Honestly, she didn't have any experience with travelling; she had never been outside the orphanage. Well, not since she had been able to remember. But of course she had always wished to go outside, be free…
"There are no problems then," the owl said before changing subject, "Are you finished?"
Tigress nodded while holding up a little box. "What's in it?" the owl asked, having expected a bag full a clothes and toys.
"Dominoes," the tiger said quietly, her cheeks burning, "Shifu gave me them so I could practice."
The owl gave her a short nod. She held in the question; 'Aren't there more things?'. The kid obviously didn't have much, and when it came to the few things she actually did have it was a miracle that they weren't too broken. She must get some new clothes and what else the tiger needed when they came home. And how she wanted to get out of here right now.
The horrible thought of the old turtle suddenly showing up kept haunting her. But why should he come here? It was Shifu who had been the one to teach the girl, not Oogway. And even if Shifu had decided to go here, she and the cub would be long gone. She would make sure of that.
The cub was now standing in front of her, looking at her with big eyes. The owl became once again unsecure; should she really do this? This wasn't a weapon, but a cub that she would have to take care of. A living child with needs that she had to fulfill. A child that could be hurt; both mentally and physically. She had to be careful of what she would say and do. How in the world would she be able to take care of a child?
But when she saw the tiger's eyes, the deep, golden eyes that begged her to want her, the owl had made her decision. As she had said to the caretaker; she was the cub's only chance. She or Shifu, of course. But there was no way that she would let him get her.
"Come. Let us go home."
"You are surprisingly early, my friend. And I see you come alone. A change of mind, maybe?"
Master Shifu gave a bow to the old turtle in front of him, "No, Master. She wasn't there. I was told that she had been adopted this morning."
Oogway's face lightened up in a smile, "Then I assume that your mission went better than we first thought. This is a day of joy indeed."
"She must be overjoyed," Shifu agreed, even though his face remained emotionless.
"But of course you have a reason to be disappointed," Oogway gently said while walking away.
"I do not." Shifu replied, before quickly changing it into, "I am not. A family is the best solution for the child."
"And yet you lost a student."
"She is not…" Stopping himself to breath in air through his nose the red panda paused shortly. "Bringing her to the palace would only become reality if the other options were gone."
"She has potential."
"Indeed, but…"
"She fully trusts you."
"Yes, but…"
"And you seem to care for her."
"With all respect, Master, are you suggesting me to take a child away from her new family?" Shifu asked, keeping his temper in check.
Oogway only gave him a calming smile, "Of course not, my friend. I am only clearing up the situation."
"My task was to make her ready for adoption. Now when I have succeeded, it's over."
"Oh, Shifu. Don't fool yourself."
The red panda froze, his stern eyes flashing shortly, "What do you mean, Master?"
"I am only believing that this isn't the last we have heard of little Tigress."
"Impossible. The caretaker said that she will be living far away from the valley," Shifu told him.
"You seem to forget that people always can return."
"And why would she do that? She has nothing here."
"She has you."
The unsaid words lay in the air as silence before the storm. Finally, Shifu managed to get out, "I was there to teach her how to control her temper. Nothing else. She got her family, her happy ending. She will forget me, and that is how it should be. Our time together is over."
Shifu stared at Oogway who was still smiling, not saying a word. Finally, the red panda gave up, "Please forgive my outburst, Master. I wasn't thinking clear; the orphanage seems to be lying further away when you actually are walking towards it. I am still tired from my journey."
Far away from the Jade Palace a tiger let out an exhausted sigh. She too was tired from a journey, though the difference was that hers was far from over. Once again she glanced at the owl beside, trying to find any evidence on her face that could tell if they soon could take a rest. At first Tigress' eyes had widened so much that you could doubt if they ever would return to normal size. For the first time in her life she had walked past the walls of Bao Gu orphanage as she had seen all the lucky kids do when the had been adopted.
But now it had been her turn. She had left what had been her home in so many years, but was only glad to think that she would never return. She had been ready to face the world outside that had been hidden from her in so long time. But now it was evening and she was tired. Her feet felt like they were on fire, but she still hadn't complained. Her adopter was quietly walking beside her; no word had been said between them in a long time.
Tigress didn't dare to start a conversation, and the owl just didn't know what to say. The cub had surprised her with her grown up way of acting, and somehow that bugged her. How could it be that she felt threatened by a little girl? But then again; what had she really expected she would be like?
"So, Tigress," she began, "Do you have any questions?"
The tiger thought about for some seconds, before she slowly asked, "Why did you lie about your name?"
The owl's purple eyes widened in shock. Who was this child? How could she know? She had taking the annoying cloak off when they had left the valley, knowing that the child never had seen her before. But could the cub really guess it so easily? Before the owl could answer, the tiger said, "You are Fenghuang." Her tone wasn't threatening or scared; it sounded more like she was talking about average things.
The two had stopped walking, and was now staring at each other; one just curious, the other as if she was trying to figure out an enemy. Knowing that the child would get to know anyway, Fenghuang simply answered, "I am."
Tigress nodded for herself, satisfied with the knowledge, "I heard the others talk about you and what you have done." Fenghuang glanced at the cub, interested of seeing her reaction. "They called you a monster," Tigress quietly said before continuing, "They called me a monster too."
"But we are no monsters, are we, Tigress?" The cub shook her head, a little insecure, "People have wronged me, just as they did with you. And so we will show them what we truly are, what we really can do. They will regret how they have treated us, and we shall be the ones to stand in the light."
Fenghuang spread out her wings as if she nearly could grasp the future she wanted. She glanced down to Tigress who was looking at her, "We two understand each other. When I heard of you, my dear, I knew that you were the right one. That we were in the need of each other."
"And what do you need me for?" Tigress asked, making her suspicious glance that Fenghuang had seen before.
She kneeled down and carefully placed a tip of one of her feather under the tiger's cheek. Not wanting to hurt or scare the child, she made sure that the touch was as gentle as it could be. "I need a daughter," she told her, causing Tigress to widen her eyes. Even though she knew what adoption meant, she still hadn't dared to think that the owl really wanted her. "Be my daughter, Tigress, and I promise you that you will never feel unwanted again. Isn't that what you always have wished?"
Tigress stared into the purple eyes as if she was spellbound. Could it really be true? Even though the children only had said bad things about Fenghuang, Tigress refused to believe it. Maybe she had done something wrong, but she still was the only person who had wanted her. Even Shifu had left her in the end. As the owl didn't say anything but only continued to stare at her, Tigress understood that she wanted an answer, "Yes, uh…" What should she call her? First she had been Miss Hua, then Fenghuang, but did she really wanted to be called the 'M-word'?
Waving it off with her wing Fenghuang said, "No need to be so polite, we are after all a family now. You can call me 'mother'." She hoped that it didn't sound as awkward for the kid as it did for her.
"Yes, uh, mother." Tigress tried not to grimace. She too felt the awkwardness. Of course she was happy for finally getting the family she always had wanted, but calling a person she just had met today for 'mother' was still a little too much. But she knew that after some time, when they had gotten to learn each other the awkwardness probably would be gone.
"Let's take a rest," Fenghuang said and instantly Tigress smiled in relief. Though, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous. This would be the first time she wouldn't sleep in her room, and on the top of that she would have to sleep outside in a forest. It didn't seem like it troubled Fenghuang. First Tigress had thought that the owl just liked walking through forests; now she understood that the reason why they had been walking alone between trees all day was because Fenghuang had avoided getting into villages. Villages meant people, which meant that there was a risk of being revealed.
Sitting down while grabbing the piece of bread Fenghuang offered her, Tigress asked, "Is there long way yet?"
"Yes," Fenghuang said flatly. Why lie for the child? Earlier that day while they had been walking her wings had screamed for her to grab the child and take off. But the most important was to gain Tigress trust, and that couldn't be done by scaring her with flying.
"Oh…" Tigress quietly said. Honestly, she didn't really look forward to more walking. But maybe today only was bad because of the silence there had been. Maybe tomorrow would be better. When she was done with eating she let out a big yawn which didn't go unnoticed by Fenghuang.
"I guess it's time for bed," she told her, and the tiger quickly lay down. The owl was sitting some meters away, watching the child. Knowing that she hadn't exactly been the best mother today, Fenghuang held in a sigh. What she was doing now was crazy. But again, if things went right it would be all worth it. And some kind of voice from inside her told her that she may end up enjoying it.
If the cub had agreed to be her daughter, then she needed to be her mother. But how exactly should she do that? An idea fell into her head. Why not just ask the child? "As an orphan you must have dreamt about having a mother, Tigress," she said while taking some step closer to the cub who nodded to her from the ground. Tilting her head, Fenghuang asked, "So what do you think a mother is supposed to do?"
A small smile spread on Tigress' face. Thinking it all though, she finally chose one certain thing. "Tell stories," she quickly said before looking away with shame in her eyes. She was fully aware of her childish she must have sounded.
"Stories," Fenghuang quietly muttered for herself. Well, the first time doing a thing can only start out as the best. "Then let's take a story."
Tigress rolled over to get into a better position while Fenghuang searched through her brain. She wouldn't let panic take over her; after all it was only a child, so what was the worst that could happen? Clearing her throat she started, "Long time ago there were five students training in a palace. They had one master who made sure that they kept training and woke them up in the morning. Very early in the morning," she muttered for herself, but Tigress heard it and giggled slightly.
Surprised over the tiger's laughter Fenghuang continued, "One of the students, an owl, trained the best that she could. All day and nearly all night she spent on doing Kung Fu."
"The owl was you," Tigress told her.
"No names were mentioned, were there?" Fenghuang asked her, trying to keep her 'story' a story and not her past. "The owl of course became better than the others, which made them all very jealous. They all wanted to be the best, but the owl surpassed them all. Their jealousy made them fear her and they went to their master for help. Oogwa… The master had noticed the owl strength and knew that she was getting stronger than him. He made a plan but the owl overheard them. When she came to confront him, he attacked her and there was a mighty battle. Suddenly, the master tried to catch her in an owl-shaped cage he had made just for her."
"He cheated!" Tigress exclaimed. Fenghuang smiled; she liked where this was going.
"He did. But the owl was quicker than him. When the other students came to help the master, she knew that she couldn't defeat them all and flew away. While flying in the skies she found a nice cave far away where she could live in peace. She knew that if she returned she would be sent in prison just for being stronger than the others."
Hearing her words, Tigress quietly said, "Like me."
Fenghuang nodded, "Like you. So the owl couldn't return but had to live in loneliness. One day, long time after the big battle with the master, the owl was flying around when she heard some travelers talking about a monster. She found out that they had been in the Valley of Peace where they had heard the villagers talk about a monster that was locked away in an orphanage. The owl understood that the 'monster' only was some poor child, and the owl knew that she had the help. So one day she finally came back to the Valley of Peace where she visited a place called Bao Gu Orphanage. There she found a little girl called Tigress."
"You said that you wouldn't mention names," Tigress reminded her with a sleepy voice.
"Yes, I did, but this is an exception. So the owl rescued Tigress from the orphanage and they became a family. They went back to the owl's cave where they lived happily ever after. And one day they returned so the Jade Palace could see who the really masters are," Fenghuang finished. When she glanced down to see what Tigress was thinking, the cub was already asleep.
Then that problem was solved. After all, the cub needed energy to walk, and Fenghuang would like to be home soon. As she turned around to find a place to go to sleep, she was stopped by a paw that had grabbed her foot.
"Don't..." The word weakly came out from the half-sleeping tiger. Sighing, Fenghuang remained where she stood. She could just as well sleep here.
Before hiding her head in the soft feathers in her back, she silently called out, "Goodnight, Tigress."
"Goodnight, Mom," came the sleepy reply.
The owl glanced at her, surprised, before also falling into sleep.
A/N: So what do you think? Again, this is kinda an experiment, so if it doesn't work I'll just delete it.
Oh, and the whole story won't really happen in the Tv-series' universe; I just needed to have this amazing character, the rest doesn't really matter.
Again, sorry of Fenghuang is a little out of character. The explanation is in the first A/N, but I also want her to act different when she is around Tigress. Why she really had adopted her and the whole meaning of this will come in the next chapter.
Thank you for reading my story.