Yes, another emotional one... I've been feeling a lot of need to explain Tigress thoroughly. So anyway, hope you all like it! Enjoy!

-Estelle


"Oh my GOD, Po!" Mantis laughed," If you weren't a Kung Fu Master, you'd be a chef or a comedian!"

"Ha... no big deal, guys... comes naturally." Po said, grinning.

Viper was laughing, and so were Crane and Monkey. The Five and Po were sitting and eating dinner together. Po, as usual, was being his funny self, serving his delicious food. He had everyone laughing. Everyone except... Tigress.

"Wonderful, Po. Now, maybe you should focus on eating." she said, irritated.

Po knew that she almost never laughed. He certainly hadn't heard her do so. And that made him think: If he was so funny that he could get nearly all of the Five to laugh, and get SHIFU to laugh, then why couldn't he get Tigress to?

Because she was picky. She was picky in men. She was picky in clothes. She was picky in humor. For heaven's sake, she was picky with food!

"Oh, come on, Tigress, it was funny!" Viper protested.

"Yeah, lighten up!" Monkey said cheerfully, to which Tigress growled.

Po, however, just watched. He remembered getting her to purr. And squeal. By force. He wanted to make her laugh at her own will. And it was going to be fun.

Tigress had never laughed at even his funniest jokes, so perhaps it would be the small, silly things that would make her giggle.

"Anyway, thanks for dinner, Po. We'd all better get to bed, now." Crane said. Everyone else nodded and thanked Po and left.

Po stared after Tigress. He had to admit, even after she hated him when he first came to Jade Palace, and even though she was still annoyed with some of his ways, she was his heroine, and inspiration. She was AWESOME! Plus, she was very good-looking...

He left the room and went to his bedroom. Sitting on the mat, he kept his eyes wide open. For some reason, he couldn't sleep. Maybe it was because he slept in that morning, missed the gong, had to have Shifu yell for him 17 times, be prodded and rolled over by the Five and finally punched out of bed, through the walls and down the steps of the Jade Palace by Tigress? Possibly...

Po gave up and stood. Maybe a nighttime walk to the Peach Tree (oh, who was he kidding?- a midnight snack of Heavenly Peaches... or whatever they were called).

A shadow caught his eye, and his breath quickened. Was it an intruder? Well, they'll have to be ready to face his bodacious AWESOMENESS!

He quietly followed the intruder to wherever they were running... or tiptoeing. All the way to... huh... the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom...

The figure stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. It was... Tigress.

Po sighed in relief, and then walked out into the light, next to her. She looked surprised,"What on earth are you doing here at this time, Po?"

"I could ask you the same." Po countered. She gave him her I-ask-a-question-and-you-answer-it-or-else look. He grinned and said sheepishly, "Couldn't sleep."

"Was it because you slept in this morning, missed the gong, had to have Shifu yell for him 17 times, be prodded and rolled over by the Five and finally punched out of bed, through the walls and down the steps of the Jade Palace by me?"

"Possibly..." Po shrugged. Tigress sighed. Po looked at her expectantly, "So why are you here?"

She was silent for some time, until finally saying," I couldn't sleep either..."

Po looked at her, before asking, "What is the funniest thing you've ever seen?"

Tigress looked taken-aback, "What?"

"The funniest thing you've ever seen."

"I... don't remember. Usually, things -or people- don't make me laugh."

"I know." said Po.

"Excuse me?"

"I've never heard you laugh before, Tigress." Po informed her.

"What a tragedy." she replied sarcastically.

"You have a kinda funny-sarcastic-dry-ish sense of humor!" Po said excitedly.

"No one has ever been funny enough to make me laugh." Tigress interrupted.

Po stared at her incredulously,"You've seen all the pranks Monkey plays, and the stuff Mantis does, and the things I say!"

"Po... do you know me well?" Tigress questioned.

"I like to think so."he said, puffing out his chest, "after all, I am the-"

"-OK, OK. Now, the pranks Monkey plays are-"

"-big, large and exciting." Po finished.

"Yes." Tigress nodded, "The stuff you and Mantis say are-"

"-big, large and exciting... oh! I get it! You like things kept simple!" Po said wondrously.

"Yes." Tigress smiled, "I do."

The two of them were silent for some time, looking down at the Valley and letting leaves swirl around them. Finally Tigress said, "I used to sit here like this all the time when I was little. Sometimes I'd forget to go back to the Palace. I'd fall asleep here."

"You would?" Po asked, surprised. He couldn't imagine Master Tigress breaking a rule.

"Yes. I'd talk to Master Oogway a lot, as well. He'd... help me, I suppose you could say. Give me advice and things like that. I talked to him all the time."

"Oh. Do you...miss him?" Po said cautiously.

"Yes. But life isn't perfect. Things like this happen."

"Yeah." nodded Po, "I mean, I can just imagine Oogway comin' round here, all like 'Present is a gift. Noodles, don't noodles' and stuff."

Po then went on to do a funny impersonation of Oogway. Not insulting, just more of a tribute. It wa so like him that it was funny. Very, very, very funny. And just as Po finished his little act, he heard a noise. An amazing sound, so shocking that he never would have imagined it before. It was beautiful, though.

The fact that he had accomplished this feat still buzzed through Po's mind, even as he returned Tigress's smile triumphantly.

And if anyone had been there, they wouldn't have had to ask why Po looked so triumphant. Because they would know. Po had accomplished his mission without even trying. He didn't know that was what would do it. But he was rewarded with the sweet, happy sound ringing out, the sound he had never heard before:

Tigress's laughter.