Pov Tigress.
When Tigress awoke she was slightly damp.
She was also lying on something warm.
She smiled as she realized exactly what her body was resting on.
She took her blankets off and got down.
She placed the blankets over Po's body in case he wanted them.
She bent down slowly and gave him a soft kiss on the side of his snout where his scars were.
The dragon grinned in his sleep and began to rumble with his purrs.
"You seem to like him." Said a voice from behind her.
She nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Viper!" she whispered urgently. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking out for you of course." Said the snake. "But back to the matter at hand. Do you like him?"
"Well, I…" said the tiger.
"I know you do. The question is, have you told him?" Said Viper.
Tigress motioned for her to go into the hallway.
Once they were far enough away she sighed.
"Well, no I haven't." said Tigress. "I don't know if he likes me."
"You haven't asked him?" asked the snake. "Maybe you should tell him how you feel."
"Oh no I can't." she said.
"Why not?" asked Viper.
"Because…..because…." she paused. "What if he doesn't feel the same? What if I ruin our friendship?"
"Tigress, come on! At least flirt with him or something." She said. "Continuing what you're doing will get you nowhere."
Tigress mentally slapped herself.
She should've thought of that before.
She might've been hardcore, but she was still a woman.
"No….but how do I know that he likes me back?" asked Tigress.
"You'll know Tigress. Have you asked Shifu?" asked Viper.
"No, he doesn't know of my feelings for the dragon warrior." Said Tigress, walking into the hallway of the barracks. "At least I hope he doesn't."
"What about dragons and warriors?" asked a voice from behind them.
Apparently Po was awake.
"Oh hi Po, nothing. Viper and I were just talking." Said Tigress nervously, giving him a very fake smile. "How did you sleep?"
"Well, you?" he replied.
"Very good." She said.
"Would you mind telling Crane to practice his throwing knife skills?" asked Po.
"Of course, but why can't you tell him?" asked Tigress.
"There's something I have to do." He said simply and walked off.
They watched him go with curious looks on their faces.
"I wonder what he's up to." Said Viper.
"I think he's still upset because of his face. He did try to kill me though." Said Tigress.
"Let's talk to him." Said Viper. "Did he actually attempt to kill you?"
"Now that I think about it. He didn't." said Tigress. "He hesitated."
"We must consult master Shifu. He'll know what to do." Said Viper.
Tigress went to Shifu's place of meditation and told him everything that had transpired.
"I think we all should talk to him. Gather the five and meet me in the hall of warriors." Said the master. "We did kinda throw him in prison. I wouldn't be too terribly happy."
She did so.
They stopped when they saw Shifu listening at the door.
This was most irregular so they went and stood beside him, also listening.
The door was slightly ajar so they could see as well.
They heard Po's voice.
"Do you know how long I've had to walk passed this set of weapons and think of the memories that I alone now hold?" said Po.
There was no response so they assumed that he was talking to Bane.
"Two years, Bane. For two years the five and Shifu didn't know who I was or what they had done to me. For two years they kept this from me. Two years too long. This gi deserves a proper owner, not a shelf to sit on." Said Po.
He took a step towards the display stand and started to put on the gear.
First the holsters and sheathes then the clothes boots and gloves.
After all the weapons were in place he stood in a fighting stance.
"Eleven years ago I swore to kill the furious five and Shifu for putting me in prison, which I'm still a little irked about. After eleven years you know what I've realized?" asked Po.
No response.
"I have realized that the man that was hired to murder them has died. Born from the ashes was the dragon warrior." He said.
"It's time to let go. Would you like to have a friendly spar?" asked Po.
Bane slowly drew a sword from the wall.
Po took the sword from his back.
They stood waiting for an opportune moment to strike.
Bane feigned a downward slice then tried to stab his stomach where Po knocked his sword to the ground, got behind Bane and put his sword to Bane's throat.
"Still too slow." Said Po.
They began to walk toward the doors while the others shuffled out of the way and into the bushes.
He walked out alone with Bane in his shadow form behind him.
He gave a very wide smile that displayed his many pearly white and sharp fangs.
"Let's see how Crane's doing." He said walking toward the training hall.
"Oh crap what do we do?" Said Viper.
"We go to the kitchen and say we took an early break." Said Shifu.
They went to the kitchen and sat down and pretended to be there for a long while.
After a few minutes Viper broke the silence.
"Can you believe it?" asked Viper. "The guy we imprisoned happened to be the dragon warrior?"
"We put him in prison for a year." Said Shifu. "He should have killed us."
"We did what we should've done. Besides Po said himself that he forgave us." Said Crane.
"I can't believe it either. I gave him those scars. I imprisoned him for a year." Said Tigress.
The others came around to her.
"No, it's not your fault." Said Monkey.
"Yeah, any of us would've done it. We didn't even know him at the time." Said Mantis.
Even so Tigress couldn't help, but feel that she had hurt Po and she felt terrible because of it.
Suddenly a knife implanted itself into the wall beside Crane.
Po came in.
"Why are you not practicing?" asked Po.
"Well Master, we decided to take a break. It's very hot out today." Said Crane.
Po looked up in thought and put his long clawed hand on his chin.
"Master…I like it. Well I'll let you off this time because I'm in a good mood." He said smirking. "But the break will be short lived."
"Your generosity is boundless." Said Crane sarcastically. "I don't want to rip any muscles eating my soup now do I?"
They both laughed.
"Still." Said Po stopping Cranes laughter. "Do you know how I got these scars?"
He pointed to his face.
Crane didn't answer, knowing full well where he got those scars.
"Hesitation due to lack of training." He said. "Meet me in the training hall in ten minutes."
"Yes master." Said Crane, inclining his head slightly for a sitting bow.
He walked off.
"Man, he's changed. I just fully realized how much he really has changed." Said Monkey.
No one made any comment because he seemed to have hit the mark spot on.
Tigress stood up.
"Master, would it be alright if I meditated for the rest of the day?" asked the tiger.
"Yes you may do so." Said Shifu.
Tigress left for the sacred peach tree and got into a lotus position.
She began to calm her mind until nothing remained.
She almost succeeded.
She could not stop thinking about a certain reptilian.
She still felt awful.
He was her closest friend and she would never do anything to hurt him.
"Why did I have to scratch him?" she asked the universe.
She couldn't keep her thoughts from the night she saw him for the first time.
She thought of what she would say if they were together.
"How did you meet, they would ask." She muttered.
Oh my boyfriend tried to kill me so I mauled him and then we went for lunch eleven years later.
Tigress sighed heavily.
She didn't know what to do.
A tear slid down her face and she quickly wiped it off, sniffing.
"Tigress?" said a voice behind her.
She instantly knew it was Shifu.
She quickly composed herself and faced him, bowing.
"Master." She said.
"Tigress are you alright?" asked Shifu.
"Yes Master I am fine." She said very quickly.
"Don't lie to me Tigress. Tell me the truth." Said Shifu.
Tigress stayed silent until she sighed again.
She had been doing that a lot lately.
"Yes Master. I…..I don't know what I am." She said. "I'm still having trouble accepting that I hurt Po like that."
She sat down.
Shifu came to sit next to her.
"You shouldn't feel bad. He said himself he forgives you."Said her master patting her on the shoulder. "You have feelings for him do you not?"
Tigress simply nodded.
"I know this must be hard for you, but you need to look past this." Said Shifu.
"How? Did you see his face?" she said, tears starting to form again.
"Tigress, if you want him you can't keep this bottled up. If you really feel this way about him and what you have done then tell him. Go apologize if you think it's necessary." Said Shifu.
Tigress sniffed and stood up.
"I will."
They heard a scream come from the barracks.
For the briefest moment master and student looked at each other before sprinting to the scene.
