We pick up from where we left off.

Chapter 25: Truce

Zeke walked towards the training hall, where he heard some loud grunts and poundings coming through the room. He peeked at the door and saw Tigress punching and kicking a punching bag. He could tell that she was really angry at Zeke. He was terrified to figure out what she was gonna say to her and to call a truce between the two, but knowing her, she would eventually reject his apology and tell him to his face that he doesn't belong.

He sighed heavily and took a deep breath to shake out all of the nerves out and slowly opened the doors, hoping that she won't notice. He quietly came in the front of the door and entered while Tigress was busy taking her anger out on a punching bag. He grew even more nervous by the second when he saw her pounding it really hard.

A sudden creak on the floor caught Tigress' attention and turned around and saw Zeke behind her. She huffed at him and continued with what she was doing. She then asked, "What do you want?"

"Musaki told me that you beat him down because of me." Zeke said, nervously.

"Listen, if you think you can just steal Shifu away from me, you're wrong."

"Are you kidding me? I could never steal Shifu away from you. He only took me to the Pool of Sacred Tears to do some training."

She continued punching and told him, "I have told you times before that you do not belong here and you never will."

"You know you're wrong, right? I've only been here for two days and you think that I came here to steal Shifu away from you? That's not my intention."

"Why does he like you better than most of us?"

Zeke was confused at that question and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't act like you don't know! Po, Shifu and the rest like you more and you try to steal that bond way from me."

"Are you....jealous of me?"

"That is none of your business."

"I was just asking. It's just that....I don't know. They're like my own family. The ones I never had before. It just feels like I'm a part of it."

Tigress finally snapped and punched the punching bag hard at the wall and turned to Zeke and snarled at him, then she pounced at him, grabbed him by the throat and said, "Shifu spends more time with you because you're Musaki's twin brother! All the others were accepting you being here and they say that you belong here. Well, I don't! You will never belong and never will! It's like they like you because they feel sorry for you because of your tragic past and like nothing really matters!"

She lets him go and falls down the floor hard and she walks off. Zeke blinked his eyes and said, "You're right."

She suddenly stops and then, turns to him with no anger on her face and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Some parts about not belonging here are not true, but they like me because of my past and they wanted me to feel like family. If I stole any attention from them away from you, I'm sorry. And I'm sorry for even being here in the first place. But, I do belong here because I've never had a family like that besides my second foster parents. I just had a rough past and an abusive place with my first foster parents, but I guess it seems as though it doesn't matter to you because I've been taking too much time with Shifu and the others. Sorry I bothered you."

Tigress' face suddenly softened a bit abfter hearing what Zeke had to say and she stopped him. She said to him, "No, don't apologize. I should apologize to you. I shouldn't have told you that you don't belong here. I never knew that you used to live in an abusive home when you were younger."

Zeke looked at her in the eye and said, "You kinda hurt my feelings since I've been here."

"Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot. The reason why I said those things is because I didn't trust you."

"You don't trust me?"

"No. So, I guess we both have trust issues."

"No kidding."

"Zeke, I was wrong with what you said. You do belong here."

That made Zeke's heart light up a bit and smiled a little. He took out his hand and asked, "Wanna call a truce?"

She looked at his hand and realized that if he wants to feel like family, she should respect him and also treat him like one of them. Then, she shook his hand and it started to feel like they're starting a truce.

Zeke chuckled and said, "Thanks for giving me a chance."

"Don't mention it."

All of a sudden, they heard a voice come in and said, "That's so sweet! You guys need a hug!"

Then, they turned around and saw Po coming from out of nowhere and then, gave both them a huge hug and he held on to them tightly, which caused both of them struggling for air. Tigress said, "Po, please get off us, otherwise I might claw your tail."

He quickly lets go and they were both gasping for air. Po chuckled embarassedly and said, "Sorry, but when I see a moment like this, I can't help myself."

They looked at him and Zeke asked, "How do you live with this guy?"

"I was asking myself the same question."

They finnaly broke the ice. Hopefully, she might find Zeke trustworthy and that he does belong here. Stay tuned for more of this awesome story!