A/N: Well hello, hello! I have missed you all. So, so sorry this took such a long time... :( Things have just been busy... I also did post a little one-shot called Inspired and I have been entering a few short story contests (I find out if I win the one for Inspired tomorrow!). So yeah... I guess that sums up everything.

I present to you the biggest, most dramatic chapter of the story! Now, I know Tigress is kind of thinking some crazy things and may be out of character, but seriously, this is before KFP2, so she is supposed to be all on edge and anxious. This is the old Tigress we are talking about... :) If you do see something that does not seem right, let me know! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda.

Chapter Ten: Three Dances

Her stomach lurched again as she curled herself into a tiny ball. Trying to force herself to sleep was useless; she was never going to get any rest with the creative routine on her mind. No matter how hard she tried to push the thoughts of the situation away, they kept coming back, and she was reluctantly giving them her undivided attention.

She and Po had failed to make the creative form yesterday, and Shifu wanted to see her perform it in less than a few hours. She shivered; she could feel dread seep through her striped body every time the thought flashed inside her mind.

She was better than this; she had risked her life multiple times for more important reasons. But yet, she had never experienced such anxiety like this before going into a deadly battle. She turned over onto her side and a shaky sigh escaped her lips.

She knew very well that she was a perfectionist, and she did not want to fail in front of the Masters. The tiger just wanted to perform well. That was it, it was simple.

But why did it not seem to be so simple on her mind? Or on her body? On her soul?

Usually, if she stated to herself the reason why she was worried, the feeling went away.

But it didn't this time… and Tigress could not comprehend why…

What had happened to letting things flow and not worrying about the Master's expectations? Wasn't she trying to teach herself to let go of the things that she could not control? That she could not fix?

Tigress frowned as she tugged on her vest and realized that this was something that she could control. She could choose to create her form right this second, and succeed triumphantly in the end.

She could choose to fix her troubles now…

Choosing to create the routine now could be a good possibility, but something, someone, was standing in the feline's way…

That someone was Po.

He was the one that was supposed to assist her, and Tigress felt like she did not have the strength to create the form without her comrade's clever instructions.

Tigress closed her amber irises as she remembered how he had simply given a sympathetic shrug towards her while making supper last night.

It was a silent message telling her that the form could wait until the morning. It was a message saying that he did not care about how worried she was.

Tigress growled softly, he was holding her back…

But she couldn't think of it that way. Po had been taking the time to help her for days now, and it would be wrong of her to think that he was purposely trying to make her fail.

Tigress brushed away the thought, and tried to force herself to focus on other things. However, the idea of the panda betraying her still lingered in the back of her mind as she finally drifted into a light slumber…

"This way, Tigress!" Po called out as he stumbled on a small twig.

Tigress followed him slowly through the bamboo woods, careful not to crush a single branch, unlike her comrade. Like always, the tiger had no idea where the Dragon Warrior was taking her.

"Po," she started. "Does it matter where we do the activity?"

He turned around, his head whipping though the cool air. "Yes!" he retorted with his arms crossed. "It does matter where we do the activity, especially today."

"May I ask why?" she questioned formally.

"Uh… no…" he replied as he started down the path again. "I like keeping things a surprise…"

Tigress exhaled and trudged alongside Po. "I think we need to spend more time on making the form than the activity," she said, hoping that Po understood what she was getting at.

"I know," the panda said. "We'll just do the activity and then we'll get going on the form. Does that sound good?"

"Yes, but I need to work on the routine more," she confirmed. "Shifu wants to see it in precisely three hours…"

Po pushed aside a hanging bamboo branch that was in his way. "You'll be perfectly fine, Tigress. We'll get the form done before you know it."

The tiger breathed through her nose heavily and stopped suddenly. "No, Po. You need to listen to me…" she warned.

He paused and walked back towards her, pushing the same branch out of his way. He put a paw in the air. "What's wrong?" he asked bluntly.

Tigress raised her chin. "I understand that what I am about to say may sound insensitive…but I am worried-"

He cut her off hastily, his emerald eyes widening. "Just say it."

"I would prefer to work on the just the form than do another activity," she replied quickly. "Is this activity vital?"

The giant panda hesitated, what he had planned was not that important to the form, but it was the activity he had been most excited for. He met her stern gaze and swallowed. "Yes," he said boldly. "Yes, it is very vital."

She narrowed her eyes and stared back. "Very well…" she spoke as she pushed past him and continued on the path.

Although disappointed with himself that he had lied to her, the panda happily skipped behind her, eager to get to their destination.

Tigress stood in the plaza, her eyes wide, her paws clenched into fists. "Po, why are we here again?" she demanded as she glared at her comrade.

The Dragon Warrior gave a giddy smile as he shrugged. "You'll see…"

"No, you'll tell me now, panda…" she spoke as she crossed her arms.

The feline looked around at her surroundings: they were at the Musicians' Village.

She spotted the same sign that she and Po had put up two days ago. Several villagers were walking past it and studying it as they entered and exited the practice building. A couple of small children stood near the middle of the town, their wooden flutes in their paws. They waved at the two warriors with excitement; it was rare that they got to see their protectors more than once a week.

Po grimaced slightly as he took note of Tigress' tone. "Just follow me…" he announced as he led her past the practice building and into a small area of the forest.

The forest was quiet and pleasant; there was a tranquil feeling to the place. No one was to be seen, it was as if it was made for secret secluded meetings. Tigress strode into the area and looked at Po with annoyance. "What now?" she asked.

Po motioned to a few children that were standing near them. The bunnies smiled with glee and hopped brightly towards the panda and the tiger. Tigress tried to focus on her breathing, so much was going on that she couldn't concentrate on anything.

"Tigress, I managed to arrange today's activity with these little musicians in training," he explained as he gave the children high fives. "They are going to play music for us."

She straightened her gold sash. "And what exactly are we going to do?" the warrior inquired.

"We are going to dance!" the panda exclaimed.

Tigress felt as if her mouth dropped to the ground. "Are you serious?"

Po eyed her mischievously, as he if had it planned all along. "Yes, this small activity will help your stances and to teach you how to move gracefully. This way, you will know how far you want to move in your form. By doing this, you will get a feel on where you want the form to go direction wise."

Tigress stopped, he had a point. This activity was going to teach her not only how to move creatively, but how to also adjust her physical movements as she did in Kung Fu. She took a breath and decided to go with the flow and to follow the panda's instructions.

"I'm ready…" she confirmed.

"Good," Po replied. "We'll do three dances and then we'll create the routine."

The tiger paused yet again. "We?"

"Oh yeah," he grinned with enthusiasm. "You're going to dance with me!"

Cautiously, Tigress slowly forced herself to take Po's outstretched paw and place her own striped paw on his shoulder.

She had watched the villagers perform the folk dances together when she was a small cub, but never before had she actually danced with someone. The idea of dancing with someone was awkward to her, and she felt very uncomfortable standing so close to Po.

There also was the alarming fact that there were three small children watching them. What if she was terrible at dancing? Were these three bunnies going to spread the word throughout the whole valley?

She bit the corner of her lip and looked down at their feet. Po's sandals were only a few inches away from hers.

"Follow my lead," Po said as he cued the little ones to play a soothing melody.

The panda started to sway slowly, his feet barely moving from their place. With one step at a time, Tigress copied his steps and began dancing.

It was a basic and simple dance, but it was better than nothing. The awkwardness and uneasiness faded away within a few measures as Po spun her around once. She managed to lose her cold frown as she realized that she wasn't that terrible at dancing. It was actually quite pleasant.

Po was doing well, and it seemed as if he had a lot of experience with the art of dancing. He gave her small compliments as well as pointers as the song played on. When the tune finished, the little rabbits clapped for them, Po gave a small bow and received giggles from the tiny musicians. Po was very well-known for being wonderful with children.

"Now this time, Tigress," he said. "You have to lead me. You have to tell me where to go and which steps to do."

She nodded back in reply as the music started up again.

Her mind created a design of dance that was just for the two of them. Her right leg shifted to the right and traveled in a circling motion to a different angle. Po did the same, but with his left leg. She swayed a bit more to the gentle rhythm until she decided to empathize more on her arms.

She lifted them gracefully in the air, performed a little spin, fanning herself away from the panda, and then brought herself back to Po, who was waiting patiently for her.

She felt elegant, but the gracefulness of dancing was still not making the tension of the creative routine go away.

She got the picture of dancing, she understood. She felt that she was finished with the activity and wanted to move onto the form. She explained what she thought to Po as the second song ended with a glorious harmony.

Po, on the other hand, was not done dancing with the tiger. "Let's just do one more," he pushed. "That way it matches the three days left until the Ceremonial Festival of the Masters! We'll make it really fun."

Tigress' stomach lurched again as Po mentioned the three days, it made her anxiety grow even more. Three days reminded her that there was only three hours left until Shifu wanted to see her routine.

"Hit it!" the panda said to the bunnies.

Tigress gave him a look; she wanted to get on with the form. He simply laughed, showing the child inside of him. "Just have fun, Master Tigress…" he demanded playfully.

Po wiggled his arms to the upbeat song and spun Tigress around three times. The feline took in a breath as he did so; she was beginning to feel dizzy. Po brought her back to him and kicked his foot out to the side in a jumping manner.

When he brought his foot back to its original position, he stepped on Tigress' foot. Tigress winced and let out a groan. She thought that the panda would stop dancing to apologize, but he didn't. He seemed to be enjoying the moment too much.

Suddenly, without any warning, Po grabbed her paws and dipped her close to the ground.

"Po, can you please-"

"What?" the Dragon Warrior couldn't hear her over the music, the little rabbits were playing very nosily.

He leaned in closer to her, but when he did, his footing tripped him and he fell. He dropped Tigress when he stumbled, and Tigress fell to the ground, hitting her head on a rock that was unseen, hidden by the grass.

"Ow!" she cried out as she rubbed her skull.

She looked up at Po, at the small musicians. Anger, fear, and embarrassment brought heat to her face, and she swallowed hard. The music had stopped and the children were staring at her. Po's face was full of concern and he knelt down beside her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, he paw outstretched to help her up.

She stared at him, at his paw. "I am fine," she said tersely as she rejected his helping gesture.

She stood up by herself and straightened her fiery vest. She nodded towards the rabbits. "Thank you for your time," then she turned and left the area, leaving Po behind her.

"Tigress!"

The feline tried to calm herself as she continued to walk down the stone path, breathing in deeply at a steady pace. There was no way she was going to stop walking for Po. She had more important things to do, like the creative form.

"Tigress!"

She could not believe what he had done to her. He hadn't listened to her when she had asked to stop the activity. Instead, the panda wanted to have his fun.

She had been right all along; he was trying to ruin her, to take her place as leader of the Furious Five. He wanted her to perform terribly at the Ceremonial Festival of the Masters so he could gain a better reputation.

How had she gotten into this mess? Why had she trusted him for so many days?

"Tigress!"

Out of nowhere, Po jumped in front of her, his eyes frantic. "Tigress, why did you go?"

"I did not want to be embarrassed anymore," she replied coolly. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go prepare my creative routine…"

"No, Tigress, wait…" Po pleaded as she started to walk faster. "I'm sorry…"

Tigress did not stop, she kept on going. Po reached out and grabbed her wrist, making her hesitate.

She looked down at his paw, anger spreading across her face. "Don't touch me!" she said gruffly as she yanked her paw free from his grasp.

"Tigress, I'm sorry I dropped you. I didn't mean to…"

She couldn't take it anymore, she let out a growl. "You think that's what this is about?"

Po paused, taken back for a moment. "Um…yeah…"

"Well, think again, panda. I know what you've been doing to me."

His eyebrows leapt into the air in shock. "What are you talking about?"

She laughed sarcastically. "You've been taking me to all of these secret places for days, teaching me things that are probably never going to help me."

"No, I-"

"Every day that I followed you and listened to you was a day wasted. A day that I could have been working on my form…"

"You don't understand-"

Tigress cut him off and kept persisting until she made her point clear. "You have been trying to make me fail."

Po's face saddened as the words left her mouth and the sparkle in his jade eyes disappeared in an instant. "You have to trust me, Tigress-"

"I trusted you for seven days, and we haven't even made the form."

"But I promise-"

She crossed her arms, making her demeanor even colder. "You promised me yesterday, you promised me today, it actually does not matter when you promised me, the form has not been started."

"We can do it right now-"

"No, I have less than an two hours to show it to Shifu, there is no time."

"Sure there is!"

Tigress turned around. "I do not want be in your presence right now…"

Anger suddenly exploded inside of Po. "Tigress, I haven't even started my form either! How can you think that I'm trying to make you fail?!" he asked.

She looked at him dead in the eyes one last time. "Because all we have done is goof around baking cookies, and singing songs, and writing stories. We haven't done any Kung Fu," she sighed. "Look Po, I appreciate what you have done for me, but right now none of the activities that we have done are going to help me with my form presentation tonight."

"What are you saying?" he demanded.

She started to walk past a large tree, her tail swinging back and forth. "I'm saying that I want to be alone… I have a form to make…"

Po stood in the forest in silence. He watched her leave until she was nothing but a dark spot in the distance. He frowned on the inside and outside. What had just happened?

Master Shifu walked up to his students, his paws behind his back. They were standing in the student barracks waiting for their names to be called. Mantis, Viper, and Monkey had already gone, and now, Master Shifu stood in front of Po.

"It is your turn to present your form, Po," he announced formally.

The giant panda snuck a glance at Tigress, her compose tense. The poor feline had been working hard at the Training Hall, desperately trying to come up with something.

He realized that he had been wrong, that he should have helped Tigress from the start. But he had thought that the activities were going to be fun and that they would get to know each other better while doing them. It had been fun while it lasted, but Tigress was right, they were getting them nowhere now. Po knew what he needed to do to save her from her worst nightmare, even if that meant receiving punishment from his grandmaster.

"Uh… well… about that routine thing…" he said to Shifu as he scratched the back of his neck.

The red panda's facial expression hardened. "What about it, Po?"

"Well, hehe, you see, I was having trouble with it. And by trouble, I mean a lot…"

"Can you give me a suitable reason on why you cannot present your routine to me? Shifu questioned.

"Yeah, I can," Po confirmed as he fiddled with his fingers. "Tigress was nice enough to help me, and well I'm so bad at all this creative stuff that Tigress didn't get a chance to make her own either. You know, with all of the errands, the bandit attacks, and then helping me…"

His blue eyes widened. "I see… you managed not only to fail at my request, but you also made Master Tigress burden your troubles?"

"Yes, Master…"

"I am disappointed in you, Po," he crossed his arms and nodded towards Tigress. "Tigress, it was very generous to spend your time assisting Po."

He turned and motioned to Crane, his fluffy white tail swishing against the wooden floor. "I will see your form on the day of the festival. You should have enough time to make it by then…"

Po bowed. "Thanks, Master Shifu…"

The Dragon Warrior turned to Tigress, her lips in a tight line. "We'll make the form tomorrow first thing. I promise…"

Tigress studied him silently with her eyes narrowed, as if making sure that he was sincere. Finally, she gave what looked like a slight nod and slipped inside her room.

Po let out a sigh; hopefully Tigress wouldn't stay mad at him for too long…

A/N: How was that? Please let me know! This was the longest chapter in the whole story so far! Again, so sorry that this took so long, hopefully it was worth the wait! I hope to get the rest of the chapters about soon! :) I whole time I was writing this chapter, I was debating whether or not I wanted the chapter title to be Three Dances (more like 2 and 1/2)... :) But I decided against it... :)

Who is going to be the 100th reviewer? Ready, set, review! :)

Catch you later!