Hey you guys, this is a short fanfiction for the Kung Fu Panda Fanfiction Competition. It'll be seven chapters long. I'm doing it based as Tigress as my main character this time. We will be going through her life from the time Mei Xiang from my story Diary of Mei Xiang becomes her daughter. There will be several nightmares in this, so if there is anyone who loves scary things, then you guys are more than welcome to PM me on ways to make Tigress's nightmares more frightening. I hope you guys enjoy this. Don't forget to read and review!
I knew that the contractions meant that it was time for me to go into labor. I just didn't know that it would hurt this much. It seems like only yesterday I found out I was pregnant. Then I had to tell Fang that we can't be together because my life is here not with him. After that, Mei Xiang and I became mother and daughter even though at the time, I didn't adopt her yet. Next came Shifu finding out. I was so worried about how he was going to react. My friends reacted really well, though. Po even offered to be the baby's "father" for me. I guess it makes sense because Mei Xiang also calls Po her baba too. When I came down with Blood Cough, I became close to the point of dying. Mei Xiang lost her daughter, Chun Hua, who also had it. The little one was only six. It makes me fear for my little one when he/she is born. I still get nightmares from being sick. The illness left me so weak that it has been almost a month and I'm still weak! Mei Xiang says that only time will heal my nightmares. I sure do hope so. I had one last night, so I am really tired.
I've been in labor since sunrise this morning. We were all in the kitchen when it happened. Today is Mei Xiang's birthday, so Po made us a special breakfast. He made sure I had extras and even extra vegetables since he wants me to be healthy. I was on my third helping of Chicken Secret Ingredient Noodle Soup when I felt a pop. Warm water rushed down my legs. That's when the pain started to come on fast. I started to gasp and pant. Viper came over asking "What's wrong, sister?" She noticed the pool of water and felt my stomach. Monkey and Mantis were watching suspensefully. They were already on their feet ready to go get Master Shifu and Mei Mei. "Mei Xiang, it's time!" she gasped. Mei Xiang jumped up and helped me up. Po came over and lifted me bridal style. Viper came with us and Crane left to go pick up Mei Mei and Naomi. Within a few short hours, Mei Mei and Naomi arrived. I could hear them greeting each other warmly outside the room as Mei Xiang gave them the run down of what we will be doing and who will be doing what. It's nice to know that Mei Mei will be cuddling my child long enough to have him/her cleaned and checked over. Mei Xiang will be the one doing most of the delivering. Naomi will be in charge of checking the baby over for any signs of health problems. Owlet is in charge of trying to keep me comfortable. Viper is in here with me because she is my friend and sister. Also, she can wrap herself around my body to pin me to the table if the need arises. They all come in and Po just about bursts through the door. "Hey is she OK!?" Mei Xiang turned around and eyed him sternly. "Baba, Ma needs to focus and that can't happen if you're in here. Go hang out with Waigong and Yeye." He nodded and asked us to let him know as soon as anything happens whether to Tigress or the baby. Mei Mei took over at that point. "Po, you'll know, now let us women get to work alright?" He nodded again and left the room only to start pacing the hallway. I rolled my eyes and couldn't help but feel a small burst of love towards the panda.
Po and I adopted sweet Mei Xiang. She is a white tiger who was abandoned by her abusive parents at the age of ten. Who knew that she was so strong and talented. In my painful moment, my daughter is here helping me through it. Who would've thought that me, Tigress, would become a mother? "Ma! You need to focus!" Mei Xiang snapped me out of my reverie. Her lithe black and white striped form was crouched next to my head, shaking me violently. Her daughters, Owlet and Naomi were also in the room with Mei Mei. I could barely make out Po's form pacing outside the room. All of a sudden, a strange sensation started to happen. I felt something moving downward from my womb. I knew that it must be the baby beginning to make its entrance into the world. It hurt like crap. I couldn't help but let out a scream of pain. Owlet fluttered over and started to fan my face with her wings. Apparently, while I was thinking on things, Mei Xiang told everyone how this is going to go. My little girl has been trained as a midwife so she knew exactly what was going to happen and all that. Mei Mei got the towels ready and a blanket. Naomi got the medical supplies ready. "Now Mom, this is going to hurt, but I need you to be hardcore for me." Mei Xiang was talking to me as if I was a child who was being told something very bad. Viper hissed from her spot around my middle. She wasn't tight around me but just ready in case she needed to pull. "I don't think it's going to be one baby, maybe there is another one." Mei Xiang looked rather curious so she pulled a small delicate white glove on her paw and did something rather embarrassing for me to even think. She reached her paw all the way into my womb to see how many I was going to have. Viper was right it seems because as soon as Mei Xiang's inspection was done, she drew the others close. They got a whole lot of extra supplies.
"On the count of three, Tigress, Push really hard!" They all ordered. I nodded. 1.2.3. PUSH! I pushed so hard that I felt as if my fur was on fire. We did this for what seemed like several hours when it was only about 10 minutes. Mei Xiang gave a call of seeing one baby. The next thing I heard was a loud crying sound. Mei Xiang stood up from her stool cradling a blood-soaked baby. "It's a girl, Ma." She passed her off to Mei Mei and Naomi. At that cry of my daughter, swelled my heart with so much joy. Then another wave of bone crushing pain crashed over me. I started to push when I was told too and I watched as Owlet left the room long enough to bring a long crib to lay my baby in. She told me that Po was at the noodle shop with Shifu, Ping, and the others waiting for news. I started feeling very sleepy. It was when a small shape with its umbilical cord wound tightly around its neck slithered into Mei Xiang's paws and the sad looks the others had that woke me back up. "What's wrong?" I asked them. Viper slithered up to my face and gently stroked my head with her tail tip. "This next one is dead. Mei Xiang is going to try something she has heard of people doing during delivery, but she has never tried it." I started to cry for my dead child. He/she would never know me or Po or its sister. Naomi came over and hugged me. It must have been something she learned from Mei Xiang before Master Storming Ox adopted her. I looked over towards Mei Xiang and saw that her eyes were closed in deep concentration and her paws were glowing gold against the dead baby. She was using Chi. We all found out when Chun Hua died that she tried to use her Chi to save both of us. It was very quiet for the next few moments, save for the baby in the crib softly whimpering every now and then. A noise broke the dead silence. It was a cry and the still form started to jerk and move uncontrollably. Mei Xiang snapped open her eyes and cleared the baby's mouth, nose, and lungs. She crooned softly to soothe the agitated infant. Handing the baby to Mei Mei, she crouched next to my head and chuffed affectionately. I did it back. She brought my baby back from the Spirit Realm. I'm going to have to ask Oogway how this happened when I get there. "She is going to be fine now." I smiled gratefully at that.
Mei Xiang returned to her stool to check on the position of the other infant. It was a rather painless one. I didn't even notice that I had a third baby until Owlet started to shake me awake. I was fading away pretty fast according to her. That alarmed me in a sense. Am I dying? Mei Xiang quickly got to work on seeing if that was all or not. I had one more baby to bring into this world. Mei Xiang started to push slightly on my womb to help me bring this last one. I barely heard her say, "Congratulations, Ma! You have three daughters and one son!" I passed out after that. What I had wasn't just the pure blackness, I was thrown into a nightmare. One I know.
I was a dim room. I could hear Mei Xiang crying close by. There was a body laying on the bed next to me. I turned to get a closer look. It was Chun Hua. Her body was swollen huge and was oozing blood and pus. I backed away from the rotting smell of dead flesh. Running from the room, I saw Po, Shifu, and my children in a room. As I drew closer, every one of them was dead. They had huge gashes in their sides and throats. Po was still alive, though. I crouched next to him and his eyes met mine. They were hard and cold. "Why, did you let this happen to us? Why, Tigress? You should have protected us. Because of you, Tai Lung killed us all. Go see for yourself. He has Mei Xang prisoner. He wouldn't let any of us get near her. He wants you." His eyes closed and I grabbed his paw trying to get him to stay with me. It was no use. He was gone. I wandered the Palace and saw my friends' bodies strewn on the ground in their fighting stances, dead. Grieving aloud, I went out to the courtyard and saw Tai Lung and Mei Xang. She was pinned to the ground in his huge claws. He sneered as he saw me walk up. "Come to see your precious daughter die?" NO! I lunged forward to fight him off of her, but he raked his claws across my face. As soon as I landed on the ground, dazed I had no choice but to watch him kill her. He ripped her apart limb from limb and laughed maniacally as her blood soaked the earth. I cried for the horrible death of my dear daughter. Tai Lung turned and began to stalk towards me. HIs eyes were hungry for my blood.
I awoke in a cold sweat, tears streaming down my face. It was nightfall now. Mei Xiang was in a chair next to my bed watching me. "Shush, it's okay." She soothed as she wiped my tears away. What happened. I explained to her my nightmare and a small look of understanding dawned in her eyes. "I've had dreams like those before too. When I was hurt remember? You would always be right there for when I woke up from one. You would hold me and tell me that everything was going to be alright. That made my nightmares go away." She sat on my bed and wrapped her arms around me tightly in a hug and she whispered something in my ear that I heard her tell Chun Hua when we were sick. "I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always. In my heart, you shall be forever and for always." That made me feel so much better. Mei Xiang drew the crib close to the bed and brought out the four babies I love with all my heart before having met them. "Here is the first born." She handed my first born daughter. I named her Zinnia which means colorful flowers in honor of Chun Hua and Ming Hua. I cuddled her close to my heart as the second one was introduced. This one was named Flicka because she is lucky. The third one was the one I hardly knew about. Mei Xiang seemed to have a special place in her heart for this one. "Ma, this one is the third born daughter. She is also blind." I gently took her too from Mei Xiang and gave her the name Wren, meaning songbird. The fourth born was my son. He looks the most like Fang. He was named Minzhe. For I have a hunch that my boy is going to be sensitive and wise. There was a soft knock at the door and Po popped his head in. "Is she awake? If so, y'all want some yummy Secret Ingredient Soup? My dads are both over we all want to see your beautiful gifts, Tigress after you have been fed." So we had soup and everyone came in to admire Tigress's son and daughters. Mei Xiang's traveling family came over to see them. Wolfess was still too little to really care, but Mei Xiang did enjoy getting to see her precious baby again. After things had quieted down, I laid in bed holding my sweet little gifts. I couldn't help but run my paw over each face in wonder. Po is moving his bed into my room now so that if one of the infants wakes up in the night, he can get one and see whether it needs to be fed or not. Po is a really great friend and I can't wait to get married to him. I guess with this day, I forgot that we are engaged. Master Shifu wanted to get Mei Xiang a picture for her birthday, so what would be better than one of all of us together. So we had a family picture to give Mei Xiang for her birthday. As I fell asleep tonight, I can't help but think of the hug Mei Xiang gave me after my nightmare. It did help. I felt so comforted and no nightmares bugged me tonight. When I woke up the next morning, I looked over at Po who was snoring next to me. He had all four bundles in his arms. Looks like I was dead to the world, during the night, so he took care of them. I gently picked them all up and laid them back in their crib. Then I curled myself on top of Po's stomach and let out a happy purr. Pressing, my head under his chin, I felt two furry arms, wrap around me and squeeze slightly. "Morning, Ti." I looked up and Po kissed my nose. I smiled back and purred softly, "Morning, Panda."