Protective

The morning sun peeked over the mountain range, bringing light to the land and awakening its residence. A small creature stood at the top of a mountain, with a long flight of stairs leading up to it and the structures that sat atop it. The creature watched the sun rise to the sky in awe, and then looked down the mountain to see a small village at its base.

"Wow," the creature said in awe. It giggled and was about to make its way down the steps, when…

"Woah there," Po called out to his daughter, grabbing hold of her and picking her up.

Ling-Ti giggled. "Daddy, let go." She whined while giggling. Po gently set her down in front of him.

"Now I just want you to be careful." Po told her.

She wasn't paying much attention since a butterfly flew in front of her catching her attention. She was about to chase after it when her father grabbed the color of her vest to get her attention.

"Ling-Ti, are you listening? Accidents can happen. You could easily get-"

"Hurt," they both said.

"Or attacked or even get lost." Ling-Ti finished.

"Now, I want you to stay in the Valley of Peace,-"

"At all times." They both said.

"I know. And if I see any strangers don't talk to them, or if an attack is happening, either go to Grandpa Ping's or come straight home. Ok, ok can I go now? Pleeeeease." She whined smiling widely at her father.

"Hmm, veeeeeery funny." Po smiled down at his daughter as Tigress came up behind him.

Tigress giggled. "Mind your father, Ling-Ti." She said, looking down at her daughter.

"Yes mama." She smiled at her mother.

"Thanks Ti." Po thanked her then looked down at his daughter.

"Ok, go on sweetheart. Have fun." He told her.

"Thank you, daddy!" She happily exclaimed, hugging her father before she began to run down the thousand steps.

"Just be careful!" Po yelled towards her.

Tigress giggled. "Po, who does she remind you of?" She asked.

"Huh, what, who?"

"She's just like you." Tigress said, nuzzling her head under his.

"Exactly! You know how much trouble I can get into. Even till now."

"True. But she also has her mother's responsible nature, as well as the combined strength of both her parents. So don't worry too much." Tigress said, bringing her mate in for a kiss. "She'll be fine. She is the daughter of the great Master Tigress and legendary Dragon Warrior."

"And it's because of that exact reason that I'm worried, Ti. You can't tell me that you're not at least a bit worried." Po said, as they stood facing each other.

"Of course I'm worried, Po. But I trust her to do what she is supposed to do when an obstacle comes her way." Tigress explained.

"Well… yea… But Tigre-"

"She'll be fine, Po. Don't worry too much." Tigress cut him off. She turned and was about to head for the training hall, but Po stopped her. He turned her to face him again and held both her paws together between his.

"I can't do that, Ti. I can't not worry. I almost lost you both once, and I vowed to do whatever it took to keep you both safe." Po told her, as he looked deep into her eyes.

Tigress frowned and her ears flattened. She knew what he was taking about. It was the day she went into labor. She was kidnapped by some of the bad guys who had teamed up to get their revenge on the Masters, but mostly on Po. Po and the others had gone to the village to stop said bad guys, but it was just a diversion for the real plan. Tigress was at the Jade Palace, with Shifu there to watch over her. Shifu tried to fight them off, but they overpowered him and knocked him unconscious. Tigress tried to get away, knowing that if she fought she'd risk losing her unborn child which was due at any moment. They had caught her and she struggled to break free, but they knocked her out with sleeping dust.

When Po and the others found her, her water had already broke, and she was in the worst pain she had ever felt in years. She didn't remember much of what happened during that time, except feeling someone carefully picking her up and the next thing she knew, she was at the hospital giving birth, with Po there with her through it all. Thankfully the baby was born with no complications.

Once she had recovered enough, she was able to recall what happened. The bad guys kidnapped her, but they had not harmed her in any way. They had just knocked her unconscious with sleeping dust. When she awoke, she was in a room fixed to make her feel comfortable like she was at her own home or Inn, and not like she was a prisoner. And she had told Po all of it. Po on the other hand, was ashamed to tell Tigress what had happened with him when he found out what happened. It was when they were out of the hospital and back at the Jade Palace, did the others tell her what happened, since Po still refused to tell her. What she found out greatly surprised her. In short; her sweet lovable panda, had turned into a vicious unforgiving monster on a rampage. She wasn't mad at him though. If anything, it made her love for him even stronger knowing that what he told her when they got together was true. That he would do anything for her. And even more so for their daughter.

Tigress sighed and looked up at her mate, who looked down at her with worried eyes.

"I know, Po. I understand. But do you really want to lose her trust. You promised her that she could go down to the village by herself today, and explore without one of us breathing down her neck." She told him.

The worried look never left Po's face as he looked down at her, then down the thousand steps, seeing that their cub had almost reached the bottom. He sighed and returned his attention to Tigress.

"You're right, Ti. I should have more faith in her." Po told her. "It's just that…"

"I know, Po. She's our miracle. All the reason for you to have more faith in her." Tigress smiled toward him. He smiled in return with a nod.

"Come on. Let's get some training done." Tigress suggested, making her way towards the training hall. Po followed her, but not before taking one last look down the stairs.

Meanwhile, down in the village…

Ling-Ti happily giggled as she made her way through the village. Like her father, she was very polite and greeted everyone and knew everyone in the village. The villagers realized she was alone, so they kept an eye out for her should something happen to her. She played with some of the kids who were playing in the street when she passed by some places. She got some apples to snack on, which were given to her by the Apple Cart Duck for helping him carry some of his apples.

After a fun filled day, with nothing bad happening, Ling-Ti happily began to make her way to her grandfather's shop, since it was getting close to sundown.

"Today was so much fun! I'm happy mama and baba trusted me enough to allow me to spend the day in the village by myself. It's getting close to dinner time. I'm just gonna go see Grandpa Ping before I go home." Ling-Ti said, as she walked towards the shop.

She entered the shop and made her way to the kitchen. "Hi Grandpa." She cheerfully greeted.

"Oh! Ling-Ti, my dear! How's my favourite grandbaby." Mr. Ping excitedly exclaimed when he turned around and stopped stirring his soup to hug and greet his granddaughter.

"Grandpa!..." Ling-Ti exclaimed with a giggle, "I'm your only grandchild."

"So you are." He replied, going back to his soup. "But I'm hoping your parents can give me a grandson someday."

Ling-Ti simply giggled at her grandfather's statement, since it wasn't completely new to her. She had overheard her parents a couple of times talking… well, her father would complain and rant about how every time he visits the old goose, he'd ask when he would get a grandson; and her mother would spend almost an hour trying to calm him down.

Mr. Ping gave the young panger, - who mostly resembled a tiger, but white with black stripes, - some soup, which she whole heartedly and politely accepted. When she was done, she stayed to help out with serving customers. Until…

Up at the Jade Palace, Training hall…

"Woo! That… was an AWESOME workout!" Po exclaimed, as he walked out of the training hall, with Tigress following close behind.

"I know right? I don't think we've ever had one this intense since…" Tigress paused to see the panda's reaction.

"Yea, I know. We've had to be more careful with our training." Po replied, knowing full well what his mate was talking about. "Speaking of which, where is she. It's almost dinner time. She should have been back by now."

Just then, the doors to the courtyard burst open, revealing an exhausted village goose.

"Dragon Warrior! Master Tigress! Bandits! In the village!" he exclaimed, out of breath.

"Where?" Tigress asked, when she and Po got to the goose.

"Mr. Ping's!"

Po gasped. "Dad!" he exclaimed as he looked down at the village. He looked to the goose once more. "Is…?" was all he asked and the goose nodded, knowing full well what he was asking. Po and Tigress wasted no time and swiftly made their way down the steps.

At the noddle shop…

"Put me down, you big ape!" Ling-Ti demanded. She was being held by the scruff of her neck by a huge gorilla, in front of the counter outside the kitchen.

"I'm no ape, I'm a gorilla!" the gorilla dumbly replied.

"Uh duh! Gorillas are apes, stupid." Ling-Ti told him as she continued to squirm to try to get out of his grasp.

"Feisty little thing, ain't she?" A rhino, who had stepped out of the kitchen, said as he went and stood next to the gorilla. He was carrying a sack over his shoulder, filled with stolen valuables. Mr. Ping was tied up, so there was nothing he could do to stop them.

"What are we going to do with her?" The gorilla asked.

"Hmm. Well, I've never seen a white tiger before. Then again, I don't really see any tigers. We'll take her with us and leave a ransom note. I'm sure whoever her parents are, will do whatever we ask to get their kid back." The rhino replied.

"Or… you can put her down right now!" they heard. They turned to the source, to see Po and Tigress at the doorway of the restaurant.

Po was in his battle pose and Tigress was down on all fours. Both had serious threatening looks on their face.

"Aahh! It's the Dragon Warrior and Master Tigress!" The gorilla cowardly exclaimed, but held his ground.

"Mama! Baba!" Ling-Ti exclaimed, happy to see her parents.

"So… she's your kid, eh?" the rhino grinned. He dropped the bag he was carrying and grabbed Ling-Ti from his partner. He placed his arm around her neck, pressing her to his chest.

Po and Tigress growled at the rhino and made a mad dash towards them. They gasped and stopped halfway when the rhino presented a knife and brought it to the cub's throat.

"One more step, and the brat gets it." The rhino stated.

"You wouldn't hurt an innocent child, would you?" Po asked, surprised and worried of what the bandit would do to his daughter.

"If it were one of the regular kids, maybe not so much. But your kid… heh, I'm sure she's anything but innocent." The rhino replied, pressing the knife a little further on the cub. Ling-Ti whimpered as tears began to form in her eyes. She was scared, and there was nothing her parents could do to save her. Shifu and the rest of the five were out of the village on a mission, so they were on their own on this one.

Po and Tigress slowly backed away from the bandits, unsure of what else to do.

"Mama… baba… help me…" Ling-Ti whimpered, her breathing laboured.

Just then, Tigress got an idea. Still with the worried look on her face, she began to twitch her ears forward and back continuously hoping her daughter would get the message.

"Now, we are going to – what the heck!" the rhino exclaimed, looking down at the cub. She was taking sharp intakes of air, like she was struggling to breathe. The rhino removed the knife and loosened his hold on her, but her abnormal breathing continued.

"What's with this kid?"

"Her asthma's acting up!" Tigress exclaimed in a worried tone.

The rhino bandit became frantic, trying to figure out what to do. The moment he was eye level with the cub, she attacked, scratching his face, which temporary blinded him causing him to let go of her. He screamed in pain and brought his hands to his face. Ling-Ti then pounced on the dumbfounded gorilla and scratched his face as well, causing him to bring his hands to his face.

Po and Tigress wasted no time and attacked the bandits, defeating them easily. Their attack was more brutal than normal, but what would you expect. They had threatened to hurt their cub.

"And let that be a lesson to you!" Tigress growled at the bandits, now tied up. "If you, or any of your bandit friends, ever try to harm my cub again, you'll be lucky if you can still use your arms and legs." She threatened. The bandits nodded frantically, fearing for their life.

"Mama! Daddy!" Ling-Ti cried out, running toward her parents.

"Ling-Ti!" They both replied as she jumped into her mother's arms, immediately embracing her mother around her neck.

"My baby girl, I am so proud of you!" Tigress told her.

"Me too, sweetheart." Po added. Their happy praises were short lived when they heard heavy sniffles coming from their cub.

"Ling-Ti?" Tigress asked as she pried the cub's arms from around her neck and held her in front of them.

"I… was… so… scaaaarrrred." Ling-Ti cried, as tears streamed down her eyes.

"We know you were, sweetheart." Po replied, taking her from Tigress and holding her close to his body to comfort her. "We were scared too."

Ling-Ti continued to whimper and sniffle as she looked up at her father. "Y-you were right, daddy. I wasn't ready to come to the village by myself."

Po disagreed though. "Of course you were ready, Ling-Ti. I just worry about my little miracle's safety. You spent the entire day in the village with nothing bad happening, right?" he asked, she nodded.

"And I'm guessing you were just helping Grandpa Ping before coming home, right?" she nodded again.

"See. You were- wait…" Po gasped. "DAD!"

"Oh don't worry about me, son."

Po looked to see his father standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Dad!" Po exclaimed, running towards his father, embracing him with one arm, since Ling-Ti was in the other. "You're ok."

Ling-Ti had freed him, after she had blinded and left the bandits for her parents to fight. Po apologised to his father for not checking up on him. Mr. Ping just waved it off, saying it was fine and that it was natural for a parent to worry more about their child than anything else.

Everything the bandits had stolen was returned to their rightful place, and guards had come to take the bandits away. It had already gotten dark by the time everything was in order and Po and Tigress, along with their daughter, began to make their way up to the Jade Palace. Ling-Ti was in her father's arms and she was happy that she was in his safe protective embrace. When they were almost to the top, she spoke up.

"Mama, daddy?"

"Yes, Ling-Ti." They replied, looking down at her.

"I had fun in the village today." She told them.

They smiled toward her.

"But… next time I want to go to the village, promise you'll always be there with me?" she asked, looking up hopefully at her parents.

"Of course, sweetheart. No matter what happens, we'll always be there for you." Po told her.

"We promise." Tigress added.

Ling-Ti smiled. She yawned, closed her eyes and snuggled into her father's fur. Shortly after, Po and Tigress heard her stomach growl.

"She's sleepy and hungry? Wonder which one is stronger." Po chuckled.

"Hm. She'll sleep now, but the moment we get to the palace, she's going to wake up and head straight for the kitchen. Like father, like daughter." Tigress giggled.

Po smiled and chuckled in reply, then kissed Tigress on the cheek as they continued up the steps. He then looked down at his daughter sleeping soundly in his arm.

"Don't you worry, sweetheart. From now on, I will protect you twice as much as I already was. I won't let anyone try to hurt you ever again… my little miracle."

Updated: 21.09.14

I hope this story was ok. If you are wondering, Ling-Ti is about 7-8yrs old here.

I'm sorry for the long delay in my update, or if this seemed rushed at the end, but I need to balance the time for my story writing as well as my artwork.

Anyway, plz review and let me know what you think. And whoever figures out the dialogue at the beginning gets a free virtual cookie :3

~Zea