Big or Little Ears?
By corset-rebellion-follower
Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda
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Chapter 10- Monkey and Mantis Return
Monkey and Mantis had crossed the rebuilt Thread of Hope and were walking through the village and back to the Jade Palace. Their search for Tigress was futile.
"I hope she's ok," Monkey said worriedly.
"Maybe Viper and Crane found her. Or Shifu, or Po. I bet she's at the Jade Palace right now," Mantis said.
"I don't know. You and I both know how stubborn Tigress is. She could probably run away to the Valley and we'd never find her," Monkey contradicted.
"I'm hungry. What about you?" Mantis asked. Monkey glared at him. "What? Its lunchtime and we don't know if Po is back. And I don't know about you, but even I don't want to taste my cooking," Mantis said. Monkey sighed.
"I suppose we could get some food before going back up to the Jade Palace."
"Alright! I think that Po's dad's noodle shop is just around the corner, let's go there," Mantis said happily. They entered Mr. Ping's noodle shop. Everyone stared whispering when they entered and stared at them with respect and admiration. Mr. Ping was waiting on people, so they waited until the counter was free of customers. He grinned when he saw Monkey and Mantis.
"Oh, my son's friends! Come, sit down!" He took them to a table and scurried back to the kitchen. After ten minutes, he came back with a huge platter of food.
"Told you this was a good idea," Mantis whispered as Mr. Ping put bowls of noodles on the table.
"So, how is my son?" Mr. Ping asked.
"Po was fine the last time we saw him," Monkey said.
"The last time?" Mr. Ping asked worriedly.
"Yeah. We haven't seen him in about a week. We've all been looking for Master Tigress. She… went missing. But keep it down, we don't want everyone freaking out," Mantis warned.
"Oh dear! Well, I do hope she's alright! Po always took a special shine to her, even before he knew her! He used to just stay up there for hours on his days off and stare at a poster of her," Mr. Ping said retrospectively. Monkey and Mantis both burst out laughing.
"Wait wait wait! You mean that Po has the hots for Tigress?" Mantis asked, trying not to fall out of his seat.
"Oh yes, he always thought she was quite a beauty! He used to write haikus about her all the time, too. They were actually very well written." This made Mantis and Monkey laugh harder. "Wait until Viper and Crane hear about this!" Mantis howled.
"And Tigress!" Monkey added.
"I thought she was missing," Mr. Ping said confusedly.
"She is. But we're sure that one of us will find her. Master Shifu sent us all out to the very corners of China looking. It's not that hard to see that someone will find her," Monkey explained.
"We'd better eat and get going. We want to know if anyone found Tigress yet," Mantis said. Mr. Ping went back to the kitchen, and Mantis and Monkey devoured their noodles as fast as possible. As soon as they paid, they ran out of the shop and up the steps toward the Jade Palace. About halfway up, they had to stop running and rest.
"Okay… we're almost… there. Just a few… more steps," Mantis panted. A loud roar filled the air. They both straightened up. "Did that sound like…"
A very distressed voice was heard next. "OW! Tigress, take it easy!!" They both looked at each other before resuming their running. They reached the top of the steps and ran through the front gates. And they saw Tigress and Po sparring in the arena, and Po losing badly.
"Tigress!" Mantis exclaimed. Tigress turned her head to them. She immediately left a swaying, half-conscious Po and swept both Monkey and Mantis in a hug.
"I missed you both!" she exclaimed happily.
"We missed you too. But you're crushing us!" Monkey said in a strained voice. She let them go and they both fell to the ground. "We're really glad you're safe! Who found you?" Monkey asked.
Po staggered over to them. He fell to the ground on his stomach. "I did," he said weakly.
"I see you've been training again," Mantis said coolly. She grinned proudly and nodded.
"So is anyone else back yet?" Monkey asked Po.
"Crane and Viper came yesterday," Po told them.
"What about Master Shifu? Have you seen him recently?" Tigress asked worriedly. They both shook their heads. Tigress looked down at the ground in disappointment. I hope nothing's happened to him.
"So, is it true? Were you really hanging around with Tai Lung?" Mantis asked. Tigress nodded.
"So how many times did he try to kill you?" Monkey asked.
"Only once. He tried to mask it as 'training to get me back in shape', but I'm no fool," Tigress said bitterly. Crane flew up to them.
"I just saw Master Shifu coming up the steps!" They all ran out of the temple arena and to the top of the steps. Master Shifu came up to them and immediately looked at Tigress. They all bowed in respect to him.
"Tigress. You're back," he said coldly.
She looked up at him and nodded. "Yes, Master. I have. I hope I am still welcome." His cold stare didn't soften.
"You are always welcome here." Tigress silently let go of the breath she was holding in. At least I still have a home.
"Are we to resume training, Master?" Crane asked.
"No. Not yet." The Furious Five and Po all looked at him in disbelief. "You have to greet our… guest first." They all exchanged glances, wondering who Master Shifu might have brought with him. Tigress nearly had a heart attack.
Tai Lung came up the steps and stood behind Shifu. He smirked at Tigress. Shifu was obviously not happy about Tai Lung being their either. He was wearing one of his darkest scowls, and his ears were flat against his head. But he handled it better than Tigress.
Tigress fainted.
A/N: Chapter 10! When I started this fic, I only thought it would be about five chapters or so! And look at it now! Huge thanks to mSnitta and Duskblood for being so supportive. You guys really got me going. But sadly, I think that this story will only have one or two chapters left, and I'm going to hurry to finish them before I go to England tomorrow. But don't worry, I promise that I'll be chock full of new Kung Fu Panda story ideas when I get back. I've already dedicated one of my many notebooks to fanfiction ideas in anticipation. Auf Wiedersehen!