Still working tirelessly on Chapter 17 of Memoirs of a Master, but thought I'd share this as a celebration. My computer decided to say "HAHAHA Screw You!" and cause me much troubles over the past two days. Its working fine now, and lets hope it stays that way.

In other news, the weirdest crap inspires people sometimes, doesn't it? I was watching 24 when the idea of a day/time-keeping came to mind. The rest of that is just building on the original snippet. Please review and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.

Taigress Mix

Track three: Where Do Broken Hearts Go

Tigress stared out straight in front of her, over the town that lay nestled in the valley far below the promontory, looking into the distance, but seeing nothing. The pale moon shone through the skeletal branches of the Sacred Peach Tree, which was appropriately dead; appropriate, because that's how her heart felt.

Day 73 of Tai Lung cohabitation, she calculated. The snow leopard had been there a grand total of two months, one week, six days, seven hours and forty-five minutes…and fourteen seconds. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. She shook her head and held it in her hands in despair. She expected that by now, he would have been gone, one way or another. She expected him to screw up, screw up worse than before, and then Shifu would have no choice but to get rid of him.

Instead, after two months, one week, six days, six hours and thirty minutes…and twenty-four seconds…Shifu had forgiven him.

And at two months, one week, six days, six hours, thirty minutes and twenty-five seconds, her heart broke. Shattered, smashed, devastated, broken and completely and utterly ruined. She was smart enough to know that this wasn't the end of the world, and it hadn't completely ruined her life…but it felt like it. How could Shifu hold him to a higher standard than her? If Tigress had done anything remotely like what Tai Lung had done, she would have been gone a long time ago. Imprisoned, maybe executed for those crimes.

Instead, Tai Lung was pardoned, and his time in Chorh-Gom treated as if it were some horrible mistake. A mistake. Had she been a mistake? Now that he was back—for good, she added with a churning stomach amidst her tears—where did that leave her? She had given Shifu her life, dedicated every part of her body and soul to him, and this was how he repaid her undying loyalty and filial love? She loved him only as a daughter could love her father, and to see him welcoming Tai Lung felt less like a slap in the face and more like having her heart ripped out and trod upon.

She sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, tears quietly falling down her cheeks. Of all the times to have a breakdown, why did it have to be in the Sacred Hall of Heroes, in front of her friends? Of all the times to allow those walls she'd built around her heart to crumble into dust, why did it have to happen at that moment? Why did all of it have to happen in front of him?!

"Tigress?"

Damn. Not now…don't answer, maybe he'll leave…

No such luck, as Tai Lung climbed up the slope, spotted her, and quickly scaled the rest of the way. When he got too close for her liking, she unsheathed her claws and clumsily swiped, narrowly missing him. "Go away!" she snarled.

If he was bothered, he hid it well. The snow leopard held up his hands in a conciliatory way, trying to be the calm adult in this exchange. "Relax, Princess, I just want to make sure you're not going to do anything stupid…"

"Screw off, tomcat," she sniffed, turning her face away and standing. He gently put his hand on her shoulder. "Tigress," he said more firmly.

"I told you to leave me alone."

"Look, I know that you're upset…"

"Oh you know, do you?!" she snapped. She gasped when his hand gently caressed her cheek. His voice sounded in her ear, his hot breath against her neck as he whispered, "You think you're the first person to have their heart broken?"

"You don't have a heart," she said bitterly, regretting how harsh it sounded.

He sighed, turning her around to look at him. "Not anymore," he confessed. "I used to, but not anymore."

"How dare you," she hissed, seeing the invisible finger pointing at her master's back. "How dare you blame all your problems on him!"

"What?" he asked, sincerely confused.

"Everything…Shifu gave you everything. You never had to ask for it, beg for it, no, he just gave it to you!" she finally snapped. She had forgotten she was supposed to be hiding her tears, she had forgotten that she was Master Tigress, and that Master Tigress didn't cry…but at that moment, she was just Tigress. To hell with dignity, she was going to tell him everything on her mind.

"You spent half of your life being the Chosen One, a life of privilege, high esteem, and everyone respected you, even when you were too young to have done anything! You had everything given to you on a golden platter—honor, virtue, and Shifu's love, all together in one convenient little package. What did I get? I don't remember my real parents, but I remember that they didn't want me so they abandoned me. I was adopted by a father who doesn't give two shits about me, and most of my life I spent trying to earn that love, doing everything I can to get him to say 'good job, Tigress' or 'that's my girl' or…shit, at this point I'd be happy if he spit on me because at least I know he's paying attention!"

She had lost all control, fat tears falling in streams down her cheeks, crying so hard her head began to hurt. Her voice broke, and she no longer trusted herself to continue.

As for Tai Lung, he had gone completely silent, and was watching her intently. She looked away, suddenly ashamed.

"Tigress," he said.

She refused to look up, more tears brimming in her eyes.

"Tigress, look at me," he said firmly.

"Piss off," she snarled.

He growled and grabbed her arms, forcing her up against the tree. She reacted by unsheathing her claws and snarling…but couldn't move. He was still stronger than she was, and this put her in a dangerous situation. Not that she cared; if he killed her, she'd get what she wanted: him getting kicked out, and also bringing a merciful end to her pain.

"Are you listening?" he demanded. She just glared at him, though her vision was blurry through the mist of her tears. He continued, "I didn't know that, Tigress. I didn't know about any of that. I didn't know you were an orphan, like I was…am. I didn't know he adopted you, trained you, like he did for me…I didn't know he closed his heart after me. Remember the part where I was literally under a rock the past twenty years? Before you go ahead and blame me for everything that's fucked up in your life, I hope you remember that I wasn't there."

"You might not have been there, but your ghost was," she accused. "And I've been fighting that demon since I arrived here. I couldn't be as good as you, as strong as you, I couldn't be the son he craved, and do you know why?"

"Because you're a woman?" He jumped out of the way as her claws slashed at his head, nicking off the ends of a few hairs. She seethed, and for a moment he feared she was going to give in to her fabled temper…but at the last minute a sob tore through her throat and she leaned back against the tree, hugging herself. "…Because I'm a woman…" she whispered, in a tone that hurt him to listen to. He had never heard any creature sound so sorry for themselves, sound so dejected, so…defeated. "He couldn't love me, not after you…you're the only person he ever loved…and before Po came along, I hoped that I would finally earn that love. You wanted the Dragon Scroll for glory…I just wanted the Dragon Scroll because I wanted my Baba to be proud of me, to love me…" by the last sentence, she had started crying again, hiding her face in her hand.

For a span of time, neither of them said anything, Tigress fighting to keep her crying as quiet as possible, Tai Lung unsure what to do, or even if he should say anything. A few things had finally been confirmed, Tigress was sure. He probably thought she was weak and pathetic—and he was right—and he also probably thought she was just a silly little girl with daddy issues, and not a true warrior at all. That's how she saw herself: she was just a scared little girl, still huddling in a dark corner and hissing at anyone who came near. She was still a pathetic little…

"All I ever did, I did to make him proud."

Orphan.

She sniffed, wiping away tears with the back of her hand and staring at Tai Lung. He sighed and hung his head, "All I ever did, I did to make him proud. I told him that, during our fight. I asked him how proud he was…how proud he was of the monster he created. I thought that he'd learn his lesson and tell his next students every single day that he was proud of them. I guess I was wrong."

Now she didn't know what to think. It was impossible…how could Tai Lung not know how Shifu felt about him? But she realized with a sudden sickening feeling what should have been obvious since the day she first heard the Tale of Tai Lung. They were very alike, the two of them, more alike than she was comfortable with. She shuddered at the thought, and stopped crying long enough for the snow leopard to interject, "I know what will make you feel better."

"Throwing you off this cliff?" she snapped.

"Not exactly…"

She stared at the Adversary, then glanced between the dummy and Tai Lung and back again. "You're kidding."

"Hit it," he told her. "See, it even looks like the panda, so it's easier."

"But I don't hate Po."

"Don't you? I could paint Shifu's face on here, if that helps…"

"Why not your face?" she growled.

"Because my body has never—and will never—look like this," he said, pointing at the rotund dummy with a quizzical brow. "It wouldn't be a very good likeness."

"Never, eh?"

"Should the day arrive that I look like this, do me a favor and, please, throw me off the cliff."

"Can I hold you to that?"

"I'm not certain I'm comfortable with that look you're giving me…"

Tigress sighed and stared at the Adversary again, then shook her head. "This is stupid."

"It's not stupid. Hit it."

"I'm not taking orders from you," she glared.

"It's not an order, more like an enthusiastic suggestion. Look," he said, leaning against one of the training hall's pillars, "You can either go back to the peach tree and spend the rest of the night crying your eyes out and feeling sorry for yourself, or you can strike this dummy until its nothing but painted burlap shreds and sand. What's it going to be?"

Tigress looked back at the dummy, recalling the bittersweet memories she had with it. We use that for training children, and for propping the door open when it's hot. Otherwise, it was worthless to him. Children hadn't trained at the Jade Palace since Tigress was a girl, but that changed when Po arrived. At that point, Tigress felt too drained from crying and too depressed to give it any real effort and threw a sloppy punch.

Tai Lung, naturally, couldn't keep his big mouth shut, "Oh now that was just dreadful…"

Tigress gritted her teeth. Everything came flooding back: being slighted by Shifu, never hearing a 'good job', nor even a 'congratulations' when she became a master. Every time he gave only a curt nod when she craved a cheer, every time she skinned a knee, broke a bone, hit her head and he held her at arm's reach when she wanted a little sympathy…that suppressed resentment let loose like a beast being freed from its cage.

"AAAAIIIIIIHHHYYAAA!!" she screamed, claws and fangs bared, eyes blazing, the tiger a flurry of orange and black as she viciously attacked the Adversary. She was blinded by her rage, striking out so many times she lost count. When she finally broke out of her rage, she was panting, sucking in air so quickly she was getting dizzy. She leaned back against the wall and slid down until she was crouching, her head in her hands.

"Tigress?" Tai Lung whispered. "…are you alright?" He sounded…worried? Did he think she was likely to kill him? No…she gasped with shock. He sounded concerned…for her.

"Tigress…"

"I'm okay," she said finally, trying to slow her frantic breathing. "I just…I just really, really needed that…"

"Told you. So," he crouched in front of her, eye to eye. "Do you feel better?"

She thought about it before answering him, albeit grudgingly, "A little."

"See? I told you it would work. I used to do that every once in a while, whenever I was stressed. Come to think of it, I probably should have come here instead of going to the town that day…"

"Hindsight…"

"Is a bitch, yes, I know," he said irritably. Then his expression softened, "Look, you're a good kid, Tigress; I won't pretend to understand, but I can sympathize."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I don't want you to make the same mistake I did."

There it was, but she wasn't sure what it was. It sounded like Tai Lung was actually worried about her, and actually cared about her, but that couldn't be right. It couldn't be. He had tried to kill her, hadn't he? Yet…not since he'd come back. Her mind told her he was still dangerous, but in her heart…she knew he was dangerous, yes, but her heart told her that maybe something had changed.

Lost in her thoughts, she missed what he was saying. "What?"

"I said 'if you want, I can show you where the old training equipment is kept'…if you want to change up your routine, or something. Shifu's a packrat, or he was twenty years ago, I bet he kept some things around."

She nodded, accepting his hand to help her up. "Thanks."

"Sure. You'd better get some sleep; I'll cover for you in the morning if you want to sleep in…"

"No, that's okay. Training usually helps; keeps me focused."

"Yes, yes I know."

In the silence that followed, the two of them shared a look…then both slowly smiled at each other. Something changed that night, in that place where broken hearts go to heal. Neither of them knew it, yet, but at two months, two weeks, one hour, five minutes and forty-nine seconds, both their broken hearts had healed.

Thus proving I can write unapologetically sappy sap. Read and Review, please!