Cats are Weird

"'I understand your plea, but you have to understand my concern,'" Tai-Lung read a note from Aku-Po to the masters. "'There are many dangers that I know of that you must be ignorant of to ensure your safety. I promise soon you will be freed and that things will be better than before. Sincerely Aku-Po.'" Tai-Lung looked at Tigress beside him with a sigh and a shrug. "Those are the orders."

"Who's the Dragon Warrior here?" Tigress mocked.

"Not me," Tai-Lung said defensively, "If anything, it's him. He's the one with untold power."

"And he wrote this and went on a secret mission he told you nothing about?" Shifu repeated. "It does sound like he runs the palace." Tai rolled his eyes.

"The point I wanted to show you with this letter is that Aku-Po obviously knows something about the future that we don't. For the time being, let's try and trust him," Tai-Lung said.

"Do we have a choice?" Mantis muttered.

"It's either that or be captured like Mei-Ling was," Tai-Lung answered.

"Ah, and how is our mountain cat? Have you taken to it personally that she's resettling okay?" Viper hissed knowingly. The snow leopard growled at the snake's suggestive tone.

"The point is," Tai-Lung said, distracting the masters, "that we have to take Aku-Po at his word for once. I've been reluctant of trusting him but right now we have no choice. He may be... weird in mindset, but his heart is right... I think."

"Well, that was confidently said," Mantis muttered. "That doesn't explain why he's so concerned."

"Aku-Po mentioned that he can foresee when a person is good or bad, but he also said something about living his life again. It may be that we're his friends in another lifetime," Tigress suggested, though not really understanding it herself.

"Which means his past is all the more relevant to figuring out who he is and what he's doing here," Shifu replied. The red panda stroked his bread in thought as Mei-Ling rested on his shoulder for comfort and warmth. "And he gave no indication of his whereabouts?"

"None, though knowing him, I doubt that it will be a good thing," Tai-Lung answered.

"You know," Master Chao said to no one in particular, "That black robe of his does remind me of a fabled legend. It could be-"

"I thought that myself," Tai-Lung said, beating the lizard to it, "But I've seen Aku-Po do magical arts without the clothing."

"Nevermind then. Though, it does feel familiar," Chao replied.

"For right now, we'll trust that Aku-Po is doing the right thing. Hopefully, for us, there will be other bandits and emperor soldiers for us to fight," Master Ox boomed. The snow leopard nodded and left the dungeon with Tigress. The tiger casually looked at Tai-Lung's expression as they neared Mei-Ling. She stopped him with her hand to talk to him privately.

"What?" He asked.

"Don't rush it."

"Huh?" Tai-Lung said cluelessly for a moment. Tigress glanced over to Mei-Ling's door which gave Tai a realization. "I.. I... I'm too old for that. I... do enjoy her-"

"Looks?" Tigress asked with a look of knowing mockery.

"And her company," Tai interjected, "But there are too many things at stake for me to... be distracted," Tai-Lung answered. Then he smirked. "And when did you care about where my eyes have been? You weren't-"

"Old man," She said quite harshly, "Don't even think about it."

"Don't call me old," Tai-Lung grumbled as they passed Mei-Ling's door. "Speaking of interests."

"Don't."

"I was only going to say you and him haven't really... been together," Tai-Lung finished. Tigress looked away. "Oh... I'm sorry that-"

"I don't know what's going on," Tigress finally confessed. "You're right that we should just focus on-" Before she could finish, they saw Aku-Po with an odd looking water buffalo (Everyone's got a water buffalo! I'm sorry I couldn't resist Okay I'm done). He was looking all over the place in fascination. He looked like a kid, though water buffalos are still pretty big when they're kids. Aku-Po stood beside him with a triumphant smile. "Aku-Po? Who's this?"

"Hello," The water buffalo said in a slightly annoying voice. "I'm Lu Kang!"

"Um... nice to meet you. Um... Aku, why did you bring Lu Kang here?" Tai-Lung asked.

"He kidnapped me," Said the buffalo honestly, completely oblivious to what that word meant it seems. "And then he fed me dumplings."

"Aku, what the devil did you do?" Tai-Lung asked, trying to figure out what the buffalo was doing here.

"Everyone, this is Lu Kang, grandson of the emperor," Aku-Po smiled. Tai and Tigress's eyes shot open. Tai-Lung took a deep breath in and out.

"Aku-Po I should kill you. WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU THINKING!? Aren't we suppose to get the emperor to LIKE us?!"

"Well, that was the idea, but I thought to myself, 'If the emperor is already old, being friends with the emperor's grandson should be much better.'" Aku-Po replied.

"He'll send the whole army after us. Even with all the masters' help, we couldn't fight him off that easily," Tai-Lung growled. That's when the water buffalo became sad.

"Don't worry, my grandfather wants nothing to do with me. I'm too clumsy and childish to be an emperor," Lu Kang sadly replied. Tigress and Tai felt sorry for the buffalo. Tigress was a little guilty, however. Hearing that description about himself sounded like what she said to Po when he just became Dragon Warrior.

"Well, Lu-Kang, you will definitely be liked here. And don't worry about clumsy as long as you don't anger one of the feline women. Especially, Tigress!" Tai-Lung warned, "She... will... kill... you," Tai-Lung dramatically said. Tigress rolled her eyes.

"On a scale of one to ten, one being not clumsy at all, how clumsy are you?"

"72," Lu Kang replied. Tai and Tigress groaned. Just then Fu came and saw the water buffalo. The duckling introduced himself.

"Hi, I'm Fu," He said with a smile.

"I'm Lu-Kang," The buffalo smiled.

"Okay, while Fu's talking with him, how do we face the emperor while he's looking for his grandson?" Tai-Lung asked.

"We'll just have to make sure that we're on our toes about this," Aku-Po answered while the duckling and water buffalo chatted like kids.

"Wait, how did you get him here so quickly? You were only gone for an hour," Tigress noted.

"I have some teleportation powers as well. Although, it's very dangerous when I do it. I have to use the Spirit Realm and there's a guy in there that doesn't like me too well," Aku-Po grumbled annoyed.

"So we should expect a message from the emperor fairly quickly," Tai-Lung muttered. "In the meantime, let's make sure Lu-Kang thinks us as friends."

"Patty-cake, patty-cake," excitedly laughed the two boys as they played.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem," Aku-Po smiled. Then he noticed that Tigress was glaring at him. "What?"

"I need to talk to you in private," Tigress said, leading the way to her room. Aku-Po glanced at Tai-Lung who only shrugged. When the panda and tiger walked to her room, Tigress gave a great sigh and asked, "Why were you confused when I kissed you?" The panda's eyes widened then a look of guilt came upon him. "Was it... not good?"

"No, no, no, I... Listen, there's... something that I just have to figure out by myself," Aku-Po said, grabbing her hands gently. "It's not that I don't find you attractive and I hate your company or anything. It's just the opposite. But there's something I have to know for myself before I... go on with this." He fidgeted a bit. "And... do you... want to... go on with this?"

"I... wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't," Tigress pointed out, surprising Aku-Po. He cockily laughed as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Well, that could be the natural panda charm," Aku smirked. Tigress shook her head but gasped as Aku kissed her on the lips. As he drew away, he smiled, resting his head on hers. "Again, don't think I don't care about you too."

"We'll see," Tigress smirked, making Aku laugh.

Later on, Tai-Lung was grumbling after having Lu-Kang accidentally throwing a fruit salad of Fu's on top of the snow leopard's head. "The boy wasn't kidding when he said he was clumsy." He muttered as he walked the halls of the Jade Palace. He stopped and thought to himself. "He's probably just as nervous as anyone else in this situation. He just needs some confidence." He laughed, "Just like me when I was growing up here."

"And what was that like?"

"DAHHH!" Tai-Lung jumped and turned around. Mei-Ling stood behind him with her hands behind her and a curious look on her face. Tai-Lung calmed down. "Don't do that," He sighed, "And... what was the question?"

"What were you like when you were growing up?" She repeated, "I only know rumors."

"Um... well, I guess I had it all when I was a kid. Shifu took me in, I showed some potential in Kung Fu, and he taught me," Tai-Lung simplified.

"So what happened to get to the imprisonment?" Mei-Ling asked directly. Tai-Lung nervously scratched the back of his head.

"You don't beat around the bush, do you?" He laughed with a stutter.

"I hope I'm not making you uncomfortable, I-"

"No, no, no, no," Tai-Lung hurriedly replied, "I um... I was just a jerk."

"'Was?'" Mei smirked.

"Don't push it," Tai growled. "I guess ambition was my major problem. I did everything I could to get the Dragon Scroll and the title. I even vanquished an innocent," Tai-Lung sighed. After hearing from Tigress what Po was like, he couldn't help but feel majorly guilty.

"I think the panda would have forgiven you. He sounds like the kind of guy to do so," Mei-Ling assured.

"Anyways, that's my life. What about you?" Tai asked.

"Well, I grew up pretty normally. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I didn't like being normal. So, one day, I snuck into the Lee-Dow academy, just to see what it was like. As I was sneaking around, however, I accidentally walked into the obstacle course they had for initiation. As I walked out, I naturally blocked and ducked over every swinging thing coming at me. When I finally got out, I noticed the head elders of the academy were watching me and were impressed. They allowed me to train there and I grew up to be a master there. I left shortly when Master Crane mastered the course."

"An interesting story for someone's who's 'normal'," Tai-Lung commented. Mei-Ling gave a small smile that Tai couldn't figure out if it was a smirk or a genuinely happy smile.

"So being the warrior of the Jade Palace, you must have a lot of... females throw themselves at you," She jested. It was a smirk.

"Uh... no, no. Before I was imprisoned, I didn't really have that much of a love life. I still don't. Wait, why do you ask?" Tai-Lung said a little afraid.

"No reason," She said, walking back to her room. "It's just interesting what you can hear from the comforts of your own room." The snow leopard's eyes bolted open. Then he narrowed them back and glared at her.

"You're teasing me, aren't you?"

"I guess you haven't heard of the phrase, 'cats play with their prey'?" Mei-Ling smiled as she went into her room. Tai-Lung grumbled away embarrassed.

Continued...