Po certainly had some explaining to do because of Tai Lung's return. And explain he did…

I figured out the secret of the Wuxi hold. That it only distracts while you do something. When I did that, I didn't know it. Tai Lung made fire somehow, and I suppose you could say it was contained in air. The pressure made the many bubbles of it burst, creating a strange effect. He protected both of us from it and told me all this. Then, he left," Po said resignedly. I was as mystified by this explanation as everyone else, but I decided not to question it for now. It would be the others' mistake to let Tai Lung return, but I would wait until Master Shifu saw him. Surely he would drive Tai Lung away.

"And I promise I will harm none of you," Tai Lung's words inflamed me and I whipped back into aggression.

"What good is the word of a traitor?" I growled, but I relaxed more.

"One thing you can count on…Shifu and I don't ever intentionally lie," Tai Lung leered and I growled softly in warning. Just because I would tolerate him for a while didn't mean he could think he was better than me.

"That is true," Xiongmeng confirmed, but I glared at him until Po broked the awkward silence.

"So what's the emperor doing here?" Po asked.

"Ahem, the emperor is coming to help Shifu. He saved me once when I was very little," Shan Hu told us and I felt a spark of surprise. Figures Master Shifu would save a tiger.

"We're not going in to slaughter every wolf on sight," I growled at him, unable to properly vent my anger on Tai Lung.

"My enemies seem to have made up a lot of rumors about me I think," he muttered and I turned accusingly toward Zou Shi, who ducked her head with slight humiliation. I was right. She had made it up to make him appear fiercer.

"Well, we ask your permission to battle in your territory," Zou Meng broke in and he nodded curtly.

"Of course, I'm coming aren't I?" he growled. The cheetahs separated so that they could allow the new arrivals to ride. An hour of running passed and I boiled in silent anger. I was also worried for Master Shifu and wondered if our short delay in arriving would matter. Jet and Lucy began talking amongst themselves and I saw they were getting the cheetahs to stop. We might as well rest for the night. I figured the wolves wouldn't attack at night and neither would Master Shifu, so it would be safe to sleep.

When we stopped, I took Xiongmeng and the emperor off to the side to talk about battle strategies while the others slept. Unsure of what to do without Master Shifu here, we finally agreed to wait for him and then decide. If he didn't find us by tomorrow morning, we would attack. It was almost day break and I inwardly groaned that in the several hours of discussion, we had really not gotten much accomplished. Of course, we had taken turns keeping watch. Yawning, I settled off to sleep. Maybe things would be better in the morning.

I awoke to a loud bark of, "Xiongmeng!" and turned to see a full-grown wolf bundle the rhino into a snowdrift. I yawned, but sprang to my feet. Though I must have slept a few hours, it felt like a few minutes.

"Is someone attacking us?" Shan Hu asked quickly, but I could tell this wasn't attack. They must know each other, for it looked like play. And…I could now see Master Shifu coming up through the snow after the wolf.

"Shifu, how could you leave without us?" Lucy scolded him and jumped directly into my master's arms, her sudden weight bowling him over into the snow. I was so mad at him for leaving us again, but it was in his nature to protect us and I honestly couldn't bring myself to lecturing him. Instead, I teased him.

"And the brave warrior who goes off alone without telling his family anything is defeated by a little girl," I crossed my arms and twitched my tail.

"I know, I just didn't want you in danger," came his answer, which I kind of expected anyway.

"Shifu, you have to stop going off by yourself and doing things alone. We were all worried and what if you hadn't came back?" I didn't even want to think about that. He raised an eyebrow in simple disbelief and I sighed exasperatedly.

"Okay, you probably would have. Just don't keep us out of the action next time," I sighed again. Suddenly sensing someone close behind me, I whirled around to find Lucy imitating everything I had been saying mockingly. Swiping a soft, sheathed paw at her, I couldn't help a little laugh.

"He know already," she chuckled and I began to chase her through the snow as she laughed happily. Feeling the tension run out of me, I enjoyed the playing. The cheetah runners appeared to have woken up and Master Shifu gave them a strange look. Didn't he recognize them?

"Who are you?" he asked and I suddenly realized he was asking the emperor who stood behind the cheetahs.

"You should remember me Master Ice Dragon. You saved me when I was a cub," the emperor teased him and he nodded with a sigh.

"So, I suppose you're the new emperor then," he acknowledged.

"My father wasn't the best of rulers, but I have tried to learn from his mistakes although my enemies like spreading rumors of my rule," he admitted. Well, not just his enemies…

"Master," Tai Lung rumbled, but I could tell from the tension in his body that he was weary of Master Shifu's reaction. And so he should.

"You have come back?" Master Shifu asked with an almost oddness to the question. I couldn't tell if he was angry or pleased. Part of me wished he would be angry at Tai Lung and drive him away, but I couldn't help wondering if he was telling the truth.

"I wanted to wait for a chance to prove myself. I'm sincerely sorry for what I have done and I hope you can forgive me…or kill me where I stand," Tai Lung told him simply and I stared at him in disbelief. He must either be telling the truth or out of his mind to make such an offer.

"The past is history. I forgive you," Master Shifu responded solemnly and I couldn't keep my jaw from dropping in surprise. Well, I certainly hadn't expected my father to accept him that easily. Closing my mouth quickly, I glared at him as his gaze flicked towards me and sent him a silent challenge: why?

"He's a traitor! Who's to say he won't betray us all?" I quietly snarled, only to be surprised when Lucy growled at me. Even his daughter was accepting Tai Lung's return? Did craziness run in the family?

"So, when should we attack?" Yingzi carefully put in. The tension was clear and he was attempting to help relieve it.

"Tomorrow at dawn. If we attack tonight, they'll expect it," Master Shifu answered and I mentally sighed with relief. At least he had somewhat thought this through.

"And we're all armed and ready?" Yingzi addressed us all and I nodded.

"Yes," I said, feeling somewhat irked that the subject was being turned away from Tai Lung.

Yingzi seemed to be a true military wolf, for he had thought the plan carefully through, "Shifu, Jet, and Lucy should lead so the wolves underestimate us and believe they're the only ones. Xiongmeng, Tai Lung, Po, Tigress, Monkey, and Viper will charge in and drive the wolves out of the palace. While they're confused and distracted, the cheetah runners, Emperor Shan Hu, Mantis, and Crane can start shooting arrows from up here, and steadily move towards the battle. As usual, I cannot fight my own kind, but while they're gone, I can set fire to the palace. I'll make sure nobody is left inside." My father couldn't go out first, barely unprotected! I did not want him in danger. I knew he could protect himself, but if his companions' safety was compromised, he would risk everything to save them.

"I'm going with Yingzi to rescue Ming Yue and the others," he answered as if he knew that was what I was thinking.

"Lucy and Jet can't go alone," I began, before mentally smacking myself. He would be out of the fighting if he went to rescue his wife.

"I'll go with them," Tai Lung volunteered and I glared at him. Stupid suck-up. He better make sure nothing happened to Lucy and Jet or I was going to kick his butt.

"Thank you," Master Shifu acknowledged him.

"I'll go too," I quickly put in. I was going to keep my eyes on him every step of the way.

"Very well," Tai Lung growled and I could hear disapproval in each word, but I didn't really care.

"Well, let's go back to sleep then," Lucy yawned. I was almost ready to agree with her, when I saw Master Shifu cock his head slightly, as if listening to something. I was tired, but I had been up through nights before. This was nothing new.

"There aren't, by any chance, more of you coming?" he asked and I immediately tensed up. Something was wrong.

"No," Xiongmeng replied and he immediately went on defense too. We all moved closer together in a defensive pattern and listened quietly. When the clear sounds of an army came to my ears, I heard my master growl lowly.

"They're attacking now," Luc whispered awestruck and I snorted. Typical of bandit wolves to not keep to their word with the village.

"Oh, crap!" Mantis exclaimed and I sent him a silencing glance.

"Dude, chill," Monkey added.

"Look, we have to continue as planned," Crane said and I wondered how on earth that would work now.

As we moved through the bushes, I silently gasped in surprise. Not untrained few bandits we saw, but well-trained, armed warriors. There were nearly a thousand, and though we had faced larger than these numbers before, I couldn't help that small twinge of nervousness.

"What happened to only a few hundred untrained rogues?" Yingzi voiced my thoughts, clearly troubled by the odds. We would win, but I wondered at what price?

"We can still defeat them," Po tried to cheer everyone up, which failed.

"You don't believe that, and neither do I," Jet grumbled.

"We must believe that, or we're all toast," the panda replied.

"Just continued the attack as planned. Give Shifu and I a few minutes. Then, attack as you've planned," Yingzi ordered. Good thing we had brought extra weapon…including the bows and arrows we would need. Still, though I hated to kill, we might be needed to in this case. I noticed that the cheetah runners were gone and suspected that the would simply enter the battle when they saw fit.

"These are not the unwilling drafted. They're trained; loyal soldiers that will try to kill us. I think in this situation, we have no choice, but to not limit ourselves when attacking them," I growled. I glanced quickly at my master to make sure he agreed. I knew he had never killed and never would, but I still wanted his permission for us to do so.

He gave me the slightest nod before saying, "Come on Yingzi," ad racing off together for the wolves' palace.

"Alright, let's go," I meowed determinedly, "But let's just attack as one. We can beat them," I insisted. Leading the charge, I yowled with fury, running as fast as I could towards the troops. They look prepared, but I launched myself high into the air, did a series of flips, and landed in the middle of the army, slashing and ducking to find the first in command. As usual, that was a good tactic to beat the enemy. Find out who's in charge and eliminate them. To my surprise, Tai Lung was at my back, defending me as if we were friends… I saw Monkey and Viper split off to work in a pair, moving like liquid to defeat the wolves. Crane flew over my head to snatch up a wolf who had tried to attack me from behind and thrust him into the air and kicked him far off. Xiongmeng, Po, and the emperor worked with a strange style that guarded each other and knocked the wolves out cold. The cheetah runners did a style I recognized from past battles where they raced up dirt clouds and attacked the blind wolves. Lucy and Jet fought separate, but as one, moving together, weapon flashing and slicing the wolves deep enough to send them running with howls of pain.

We fought for a while and ever so slowly, I was moving toward the alpha wolf. I was surprised it was a she, but the way she moved gave her rank away. Slipping between wolves, leaping, and kicking, breaking a couple jaws, I bounded over their heads and launched myself at the wolf. I suddenly saw a flash and flames erupted into the night. Master Shifu and Yingzi had done well. Then, to my surprise and dismay, I saw my father launch himself into the fray. He fought amazing, and I recognized the ruby red flash of another red panda beside him. That must be his wife. I didn't get a clear look at her, for I had to pay attention to the she-wolf I was fighting.

Snarling, I caught her off gaurd and tackled her into the fray of wolves. She ran immediately and I laughed in my mind at the coward. I chased her until we reached the river, and then a heavy weight landed on my back. Twisting quickly, I wrenched the forepaw of a wolf off my back and flipped him hard to the ground. A roar behind me made me aware of Tai Lung and I paused. Why did he follow me?

As he fought the male, I fought the female. She was clearly skilled, but I was better. Dodging her swipes and kicks, I flipped her by her foot and slammed a paw around her throat. I was about ready to punch her and knock her out cold, when I heard a piercing shriek. Straightening up, I felt mil surprise and rage as she slammed her feet into my stomach, sending me to the river coast. Pain washed over me as my temple slammed into rock and I briefly scented blood and heard Tai Lung before I blacked out.

"Tigress!" he yowled, but I could no longer hear him.

When I awoke, I felt slightly groggy and looked up to see Emperor Shan Hu's face. What had just happened? The battle was clearly over. Dang.

"You're awake my sister," he purred and I felt love radiate from him. What?

"What?" I yelped. How could this be? He was holding my pin from when I was so young and I gaped at him. He was my brother. Now, I remembered. I remembered the cry in my dreams…of my companion who fell behind when we were fleeing. He had never died. I had a brother. And he was the empeor.

"You're a princess?" Po nervously chuckled and I glared at him. Well, I guess he was right.

"Tigress…" Master Shifu trailed away and I rezlied this must have been just as big of a shock to him as me.

"You left the palace so many years ago. Why did you never try to come back or even tell me you were leaving?" he asked and I bristled slightly. We had been running from my parents' murders. He fell behind? Of course I couldn't tell him where I was going? I hadn't even known.

"It was an accident and I didn't even know what my home was called. How could it have been possible to come back?" I meowed, still feeling dazed from the head injury and this unexpected news.

"Will you come back to the palace with me?" he asked and I paused. His voice spoke of longing for the sister he had lost, but I couldn't do it. Besides, I had no intentions of ruling China. And this was my home now, with my friends, and my family.

"I'm sorry, but this is my home now," I politely declined, with only slight sadness that I would not be able to get to know him at least.

"I understand. If you ever need anything or just want to talk, you can send a messenger or come to visit if you like. I suppose I must get back to the palace now," he replied sadly. As he turned to leave and head back to his home, I watched him without regret. This is my family. I am home with them.

"We should probably visit the red panda village on the way home. There's a lot to fill each other in on too," Lucy murmured, glancing at me. Well, yes, I would like to know what had happened while I had been unconscious.

"Yeah, we should probably go," Ming Yue agreed and I looked at her. She was very pretty and I had the feeling we'd get along fine, just like I had with the kids.

On the way back, I walked beside Po as he told me how Master Shifu beat the lead wolf and her son, Yingzi became leader of the wolves, and Jet had been knocked out. Ah…that explained the scream.

As we reached the village, I saw that they were starting a party and I realized that the hostages must have brought the news of the wolves' defeat back to the village.

"Are they having a party?" Lucy gasped.

"I think they are," Jet affirmed.

"They're having a festival for us because we defeated the wolves," I confirmed too and thought a moment before adding, "Shifu, you might want to lose the act disguise." I was amazed how he could pull it off, but then again, I had known him since I was a kit. Of course he would still have been familiar to me, disguise or not.

As he left, I went with the rest of the Furious Five, Tai Lung, Ming Yue, Lucy, Jet, and Po to go enjoy the festival. The red pandas of the village had more red than Shifu, and I wondered at how quickly and efficiently they had managed to set this festival up. Eventually, we found the food stalls that they had set up and sat down at a table to wait for my father. It was not long before he returned, looking normal, and with Xiongmeng and Yingzi. They must have momentarily returned.

"You guys are staying?" Ming Yue asked.

"Defintely," Xiongmeng replied.

"This whole place seems like a picnic area with food stalls," Yingzi commented and I noticed that was indeed what it looked like.

"Bet 'ya Shifu can eat more moon cakes than you," Xiongmeng whispered and I flicked my ears with surprise. He hardly ate anything that I noticed…and he was so small.

"No, we're not starting that again!" Yingzi loudly protested and whacked him over the head with a large paw as I snickered quietly. He was funny when he was angry.

"What happened?" Po asked.

"Shifu won and Yingzi threw up," Xiongmeng replied and then howled with laughter. Yingzi glared at him before tipping over his chair, sending the rhino tumbling to the ground. He growled at Yingzi and righted his chair, but before he could pound the wolf, he yelped.

"Xiongmeng, you lost too," he protested. What, so had this been a competiton between all the students of the Jade Palace? Somehow, it was hard to imagine them all as young teens of however old they had been, doing such weird things.

"I won against Shifu," Ming Yue smiled and I glanced surprised at her.

"And you'll never guess who beat us all," Xiongmeng said, snorting with laughter. Well, that was easy. The only student left was Baihehua.

"Baihehua?" I guessed.

"No," he slowly said, and I regretted bringing up the painful subject.

"Oogway," Master Shifu smirked and I gaped at him. The wise old turtle had won a moon cake eating competition among his students?

"Awesome," Po laughed.

"And we're not doing it again," the wolf growled.

"Scaredy-pup," Xiongmeng teased. Wow, even now, those two were hilariously immature.

"Am not!" he squealed and we all laughed. The tone of a full-grown wolf sounding like that was just funny.

"Am too!"

"Am not!"

"Am too!"

"I know you are, but what am I?"

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Sarcasm, Yingzi, sarcasm."

"How does that fit into our conversation?"

"I was saying really as in did you really just say that? It's the oldest insult in the book."

"What book?"

"The one the insult is in."

"…"

"Scaredy-pup."

"AM NOT!"

I couldn't help laughing as their progression just grew worse and worse. Finally, Po broke in the argument.

"Can we get food now?" he asked.

"Sure," they stopped their argument, but Yingzi still punched Xiongmeng lightly when the rhino was not looking.

We visited different stalls, trying the different dishes, and I found them amazingly good. We talked awhile and listened to Yingzi and Xiongmeng banter back and forth again.

"I still think we should have a moon cake competition," Xiongmeng remarked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I said so."

"Nobody cares."

"I do."

"You don't count."

"Why not?"

"Because. So are we going to have a moon cake eating contest?" Xiongmeng addressed the whole table, but Yingzi was the only one who replied.

"No. We've already eaten anyway," he growled.

"Shh," Ming Yue hissed and for the first time, I noticed that the red pandas had prepared for a dance.

"Do you want to dance?" Tai Lung asked me and I started with surprise. Why would he ask me? I didn't like him in the least, and it was becoming more clear that Lucy did. Then again, I thought, it wasn't height practical that they dance.

"No," I growled determinedly. I was not budging from this spot.

"I challenge you to dance," he insisted and I bristled. How did he know I could not resist a challenge?

"Fine," I groaned, and got up with him. I felt no love towards him, but I found I did like it as his gentle strength propelled me in a rhythmic dance with him. It was only a short while that we danced when I realized the footfalls of many had stopped. Turning around and pausing from our dance, I saw something amazing. Master Shifu and Ming Yue were dancing beautifully, twirling and weaving in and out in a continuous dance that seemed like kung fu. They were amazing together and when they swirled to a halt, I cheered for them along with the others. That was truly awesome.

Next, the fireworks began and I sat down next to Po as we all watched the fireworks. I didn't know if he wanted to be more than friends, and I wasn't sure I wanted it too, but it was nice to sit with the gentle panda.

"What is it?" Po asked and I turned to him in surprise, only to find he was addressing Master Shifu. Curious, I saw his gaze was not on the fireworks, but on the opposite end of the sky.

"What is what?" he irritably asked.

"What are you looking at?" he continued.

"Well technically he can't look at anything," Xiongmeng replied and I stared at him with confusion.

"What do you mean?" I growled.

"Well you know he can't see," he snapped back and I yelped.

"What?" I gasped. How was this possible? I had know my father for twenty years. How could he be blind?