Year of the Tiger
By corset-rebellion-follower
Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda
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Chapter 38- Execution
Everything was ready. Every little detail had been worked out, and everyone had pulled together to make sure that it was all perfect. It had seemed nearly impossible to accomplish in only a few day's time, but the gods smiled down on their cause and made it happen.
Clover smiled as she gazed up at the Jade Palace. It was finally the day. And hopefully, it would all run smoothly and according to plan.
"This is really amazing," a voice behind her commented. She turned around to see Ning standing there, dressed in red and looking very handsome.
She grinned, then ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. "You came!"
"Of course I did. I wouldn't miss this for the world," he whispered, hugging her tightly before giving her a passionate kiss.
She smiled when the kiss finally broke. "You didn't have to come."
"I know. But this is important to you, so it's important to me. I still don't know how you managed to do this in three days," he said, looking at the arena. Everything was decked out in celebration, and many of the Palace workers were flitting about, rushing to get last minute tasks done and checking to make sure everything was in place.
Clover smirked and shrugged. "I'm just that amazing." He laughed and kissed her cheek.
"That you are. And you have a heart of gold."
"I just hope nothing gets screwed up. This is our last chance," she said worriedly. He took her paw and kissed it.
"I bet that everything will be fine. You and Tigress came up with a pretty sneaky plan. It was genius."
"And it was a miracle that we got Mrs. Ping and Meifeng to work together without killing each other," she noted, walking towards the bunkhouse.
"Is Tigress getting ready?" he asked.
She nodded. "She's getting all prettied up. This is a big deal for her." They walked into the bunkhouse and down the hall. Clover knocked on Tigress' door.
"Can Ning and I come in? Or are you naked?"
"Yes, you can come in. And can you not be so lewd with the way you phrase your sentences? I'm already nervous enough." Clover snickered as she opened the door. Tigress turned around and smiled at her sister, who smiled back.
Tigress was fully dressed and ready, but instead of wearing her white dress, she was wearing a red one—the original that she had been planning on wearing before her fight with Dongwa.
"You look great," Clover commented.
"Thanks. I was a little worried that it wouldn't fit, but it feels okay. Just promise me if it rips open or falls of that you'll cover me," Tigress requested.
"Sure. Should we get things going, or what?"
"Yeah. We still have to get down to the village to fetch the guests of honor."
Clover nodded and smiled at her sister, who smiled back, winking.
Time to get this show on the road.
A soft swirl of leaves fluttered past Meifeng as she padded down the main street of the Valley. Mrs. Ping waddled right beside her. They were both silent, mostly because it was awkward, but also because neither woman could think of anything to say.
They had been set with the task of bringing Mingxia out of her wallowing and up to the Jade Palace.
Clover had warned them to be prepared. "The last time I saw her she was curled up on her bed, hugging a pillow, and whispering to it that she loved it. And that's not the strangest thing I've ever seen my mother do."
Both girls were very worried for their mother's health. They didn't think that she would do something extreme like killing herself, but they weren't so sure that she would draw the line in a safe place.
"So… how is Ping? Is his health improving?" Meifeng asked quietly, finally breaking through the intense quiet.
"Hmm? Oh, that. Once Po told him that he would be preparing an entire wedding feast, his energy increased almost tenfold! I still worry for him, though…"
"Who wouldn't? No one wants to lose the one they love. And poor Mingxia… I may have lost my love, but can you imagine having to live with the fact that he's still alive and happy without you?" She glanced down at Mrs. Ping. "Well, I mean… well, you know what it's like. But I don't. Did it hurt terribly?" she asked.
"It's the worst pain a woman can ever feel, which is why I insisted on helping these girls. Ending a relationship after marriage is one thing, but after having children? That's just not right."
Meifeng nodded and stared at the ground in front of her. "What? What's wrong?" Mrs. Ping asked.
"It's just… I'm nervous."
"Don't be. Everything will be fine. In fact, if I know Mingxia, she's probably up and about already." They came up to the house and knocked on the door. There was no answer, but the door opened a little at the force of the knocking. The women looked at each other, then went inside.
The house was completely wrecked. There were pots and pans strewn all over the floor of the kitchen. Several meals worth of food was just sitting on the table on plates that were overlapping one another. The furniture in the living room was overturned and thrown around the room. There was broken china everywhere.
"Mingxia? Are you in here? Mingxia?" Meifeng called fearfully. The sounds of pounding feet on the steps suddenly filled the house.
"Shan! Shan, is that y—" Mingxia flew into the room, but stopped. She looked at Mrs. Ping and Meifeng for a few seconds before tears fell down her cheeks and she bolted out.
They both ran after her, up the stairs and into her bedroom. She was lying on the bed, sobbing.
The bedroom looked like the rest of the house. All the drawers in the dresser had been thrown open and their contents strewn all over the place. The bed was unmade, and the quilt was bunched up at the foot of it. The pitcher and basin where one would wash their face every morning were shattered, their pieces littering the floor.
Meifeng stepped around the mess and lay down on the bed next to Mingxia, wrapping her arms around her. "It's okay, honey, everything will be okay."
"How can you say that?" Mingxia cried, "No it won't! Shan's gone! And he's never coming back! And now I won't have anyone to kiss goodnight, or go to for support, or anything! I loved him, Meifeng, and I thought he loved me!" More loud sobs erupted from her mouth, and she hugged the tigress back as tightly as she could. Meifeng gently patted her back.
"Come now, is crying going to bring Shan back?" Mrs. Ping asked softly, taking the quilt off the bed and folding it neatly. Mingxia's chin quivered as she answered.
"Maybe. Will you two tell him that I'm nearly insane without him?"
Mrs. Ping frowned. "Mingxia, listen to me. If you want Shan back, then you have to march over there, hog-tie him, and bring him home! Men are too stubborn to do the right thing if it means they'll lose face."
"B-but he doesn't want to come home! He doesn't l-love me anymore!"
"He does love you. He's just a little hurt. Things will get better over time. And that's pretty much all we can do, is wait for things to get better," Meifeng reassured, helping her sit up.
"But I don't want to wait! I want my husband now! He's mine, and I don't want any other woman ever going after him, ever, ever, ever!" More sobbing ensued.
Meifeng suddenly took notice of the beautiful dress Mingxia was in. A deep red with the characters meaning 'love' and 'sweetheart' embroidered into the threads in a very dark purple. It was much nicer than any of the other dresses that she normally wore, which were all made of simple linen.
"Honey, why are you wearing your New Year's clothes?"
"I'm not," Mingxia said.
"Oh, well… it's a beautiful dress."
She sniffled. "Thank you. It was my wedding dress."
Mrs. Ping and Meifeng looked at each other. "Your wedding dress?" She nodded.
"Alright, dear, I think you need to get out of this house. How about a nice, long stroll? We could go up to the Palace to see Tigress," Mrs. Ping coaxed.
"Tigress?" Mingxia asked, "She wants to see me?"
Meifeng nodded. "Oh, yes. In fact, she sent us down here to invite you for… tea."
Mingxia stood up. "Well, then we'd better get going. I don't want to keep her waiting. I haven't seen her in so long…"
"She's very excited to see you," Meifeng reassured, running her claws through Mingxia's fur to straighten it out.
"Yes… yes, I'd better go see her." After a few minutes of washing up and making herself decent, Mingxia stepped out of her house and into the first rays of sunshine she had felt in days.
Shan looked around his workshop. It was filled with newly-made furniture of every shape and size. He had finished all his work. Every single order that he had received was now filled and able to be delivered.
His eyes scanned over a table to make sure it had the family's name carved around the edges like they had asked for. Done.
He checked his tools. All of them had been cleaned and put away in their proper place. He had replenished his supplies of wood, nails, and lacquer, and had actually had the time to sweep the floors of wood chips.
True, he had been working around the clock to do this, but he couldn't sleep. Every time he tried, he would have horrible nightmares. Visions filled with terrible things he never hoped to see in real life. His daughters, killed and lying in a pool of their own blood; the Valley burning to the ground; Tang Ying and Mingxia, standing in front of a magistrate and taking wedding vows. That one always made him throw up after he bolted awake.
There was nothing left for him to do. Nothing to act as medicine to help him forget. But luckily for him, there was a soft knock on the door. He brushed off his paws and called, "Come in!" to whoever wanted to speak with him. He heard the door fly open with a slam.
"You could be a little more careful with my proper—Oh, Master Viper. I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was you," he greeted, bowing.
"Shan, you have to come!"
"What? What's going on?" he asked.
"It's Tigress! We were in the training hall, practicing, and…"
Shan waited impatiently for her to continue. "Well, what is it?"
"She's badly injured! There was an accident… one of the Seven Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion… she's losing a lot of blood! We don't know if she'll make it!" All the blood in Shan's face drained.
She might not make it…
He headed toward the door. "We don't have much time! Go and get the physician, I'll head up to the Palace to see if there's anything I can do."
Viper nodded and sped off. If he had been paying attention, he would have noticed she was going away from the physician's house… but now his little girl needed him, and nothing would stand in his way.
He took off at a full run on all fours when he reached the steps leading towards the Jade Palace. And even though it was horrible of him, he was glad that he was being sent for. It meant that no matter how old Tigress got, she would still need her Papa to watch out for her.
With his adrenaline raging and his heart beating at a speed that was abnormal and potentially life-threatening, he reached the top of the steps in record time. Without stopping, he ran into the bunkhouse, where he knew they would take Tigress if she was hurt and needed to lie down. He quickly threw open the doors to Tigress' room.
Masters Crane, Mantis, and Monkey were there, and Master Shifu. Almost everyone except Tigress. "Put these on," Master Crane commanded, shoving some clothes into his arms.
"What? Where's Tigress? She's hurt…"
"Actually, that's just something Clover cooked up to get you up here. Is that girl a genius or what?" Monkey asked.
"So… Tigress isn't dying?" Shan asked.
"No, she's perfectly safe. Now get dressed," Master Shifu said.
"Dressed? Dressed for what?"
"Don't you worry about that. Just get all prettied up, and we'll take care of the rest," Mantis replied, winking mischievously. The three younger masters made their exit, but Shan caught Shifu before he could leave.
"Shifu, what the hell is going on here?" he asked, completely confused.
"Something long overdue, my friend," Shifu chuckled before quickly bolting out of there. Shan sighed and looked down at the clothes in his paws. It was a red silk robe and a matching pair of red pants. Is there some sort of festival that I'm forgetting about?
But nevertheless, he changed out of his dirtied, wrinkled work clothes and into the nicer garb. He left the bunkhouse and was immediately "greeted" by Master Shifu, who put a comb made of bone into his paw.
"Brush out your fur, you look like a wreck."
"Well forgive me," Shan snapped, "But usually Mingxia's the one who makes me groom myself every morning. And she and I haven't exactly been speaking."
Shifu frowned. "Yes, I am aware of that. But we have more important matters on our hands."
"Yes, explain to me, why did you tell me that my daughter was on the verge of death and nearly made me go through a coronary?" Shan asked in a sarcastically sweet voice.
"There's someone here I think you'll want to see." He would have gone into a whole tirade about how that wasn't answering his question, but he was too busy being shell-shocked.
An elderly tiger was sitting on a stone bench in the shade of a tree. His fur had lost most of its color long ago after being exposed to the sun and the sands of time. He was smirking, in the same way that Shan was prone to. He stood up from his spot underneath the tree with some difficulty, and walked over to Shan.
"Well. It seems you've grown a bit from the stocky twenty-year-old you were when I last saw you." Shan just stared at the tiger with wide eyes.
"It looks like you're doing well for yourself. A daughter in the Furious Five—that's a great honor."
Shan still said nothing. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but nothing came out. "What," the tiger laughed, "Nothing to say to your dear old dad after all these years?"
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I'm here to tell you that you're a big knucklehead for doing this to Mingxia," his father replied.
"You… you know about that?" Shan asked.
He nodded. "You know, if you're going to run away with a girl and marry her, then usually it's the custom to stay with her until you die."
"Things… aren't going well," Shan muttered.
"Obviously. But luckily for you, you can redeem yourself. But there isn't much time. We're going to be late if we don't hurry."
"Hurry to what?"
Father smirked. "Your second wedding."
After a lot of steps and even more tears, Mingxia, Meifeng, and Mrs. Ping finally made it to the Jade Palace. The sun had already sunk beneath the sky, and the stars were glittering overhead.
Tigress and Clover were waiting at the top of the massive staircase for them, both with big smiles on their faces.
"Mama!" Tigress threw her arms around her mother. Mingxia was a little taken aback, but accepted the hug just the same, and returned it. "I'm sorry for all of this ugliness, Mama. It's all my fault," Tigress whispered as she squeezed.
"No, no," Mingxia insisted, pulling away, "This is between your father and I. None of it is because of you."
"I thought it was because of her," Clover said.
"Clover…" her mother warned. Suddenly Clover broke out in a grin and hugged her mother.
"It feels great to hear you talk in that voice."
"What voice, dear?" Mingxia asked.
"Your motherly voice. All I've been listening to for days is the 'broken-heart-I'll-never-love-again voice," she explained.
Mingxia smiled sadly. "I can't promise that voice is gone forever, though."
"Don't worry, Mama, we've taken care of it," Tigress said. Mingxia looked her daughter over.
"Gods, Tigress, you're wearing your wedding dress! You aren't getting married right now, are you? You can't be, I-I'm not prepared…"
"She's not getting married yet, Mom. You have time to prepare yourself," Clover said. She nodded to Meifeng and Mrs. Ping, who both scooted inside and quickly shut the door.
"Here," Tigress said, pushing a bouquet of daffodils into Mingxia's paws.
"What are these for?" she asked.
"Just go with it, Mom," Clover said, opening the doors again and leading her mother inside.
"Clover, Tigress, tell me what is going on!" Mingxia demanded. Her eyes popped open when she realized that there were people watching them.
All of their friends from the village, all the masters of the Jade Palace and many of the servants, Dongwa, Mrs. Tang and Ning, Shan's father, who she hadn't seen in years, and Shan himself. They were all there, watching the three women. But Mingxia's eyes were locked on Shan's who were staring right back.
The entire courtyard was filled with light from soft, glowing paper lanterns and lamps, which she realized were blue. It was the only color the Palace had available at the time of her wedding.
"Girls, tell me what this is about," she whispered.
"Mama, we don't want you and Papa to break up," Tigress began.
"So, we decided to take the initiative to get you two lovebirds back together," Clover finished. Mingxia chuckled nervously.
"As sweet as that is, your father and I are adults. We can handle this on our own, and more importantly, in private."
"Mingxia." She fell silent and looked across the arena. Shan took a few steps toward her. "I understand if you don't want to, uh… remarry me. To be completely honest, I had no idea that the girls were planning any of this. But if you don't mind being married to a pretentious ass for the rest of your life, then I'm your man."
Mingxia giggled. She looked down at the bouquet and her wedding dress, then at all the people surrounding them.
"I… I don't really know what to say…"
"You could say 'Yes, I'll marry you again'. I'd really like that one," he joked. She giggled again.
Tigress squeezed her mother's paw. "There's no shame in forgiving someone who made a mistake."
Mingxia smiled at her daughter and gave both her and Clover a quick hug. "Thank you, girls. For putting me through public humiliation, and for opening my eyes."
"Just go and get married again!" Tigress urged.
"Yeah, we won't wait forever. And we won't have starlight forever," Clover noted. Mingxia nodded and looked at Shan again, who gave her a shy smile.
She took a bracing breath and started down towards him. She kept her eyes fixed on him the entire time, and tried to be confident, but her paws were shaking by the time she reached him.
"You're nervous too?" he whispered.
"Well, during our original wedding, it was just you, me, Master Oogway, and Master Shifu," she whispered back.
Shifu cleared his throat. He was standing on a stack of crates so that he would be at the proper height, and both Mingxia and Shan were having a hard time keeping it together.
"Shan, I believe you have something to say to Mingxia before we begin," he said.
"I do." He gazed into her hazel eyes. "Mingxia… gods, what really is there to say? I know I should be talking about how much of an idiot I am, and all that… but you already know how sorry I am. I can see it in your eyes." He ran a paw down her cheek. "What I need to say to you is… I love you. I've loved you for much longer than you think. It's just… when you were in love with that other man, before any of this around us… I couldn't stand it. The thought of you being with anyone else. Which is probably why I went berserk a few weeks ago. The thought of another man holding you in his arms, or thinking you're his… it kills me. I think I've known from the beginning that I've wanted to grow old and gray with you. You're my lover, and my support system… you're my best friend."
Everyone around them smiled and went, "Aww…" Shan grinned at the reaction. "So, in short, I love you, Xia, and I don't ever want to leave you. I just thought it would be the easy way out, but it was the cowardly way out. I'm sorry, and if you'll have me, I would like to take you for my wife. Again."
Mingxia grinned. Shifu smiled and looked to her. "Is there anything you would like to say?"
She nodded. "There is." She took a deep breath and looked up into his fiery eyes. "Shan… I want to agree with you. You are an idiot. You were a coward, and if you ever do this to me again, I'll kill you." Shan looked to the ground in shame, but she lifted his chin up. "However, I wasn't exactly perfect either. I lied to you, I kept things from you… I wasn't a loyal wife."
"Xia…"
"Let me finish! I know I wasn't always loyal, and that I should keep on hating you for all the pain you've put me through by leaving… but I can't. The truth is, is that I love you. I may not have always loved you, but I do now and I can't live without you. Ever since our first… romantic experience with one another, I've been in love with you. Maybe it was only just little flashes here and there, but the passion was there. And it hasn't died yet. So yes, you may take me as your wife. Again. And we will grow old and gray together. And hopefully, someday before we die, we'll have grandchildren that we can spoil."
Everyone laughed, and Dongwa looped his arm around Tigress' waist, gently rubbing his nose against her cheek.
"Well, if there's nothing anyone else has to say…"
"I have something to say!"
Everyone gasped as Tang Ying ran down the aisle. Mrs. Tang's face went completely red, and she fainted into Ning's arms. Shan placed himself between Mingxia and Ying in a protective gesture.
"Step aside," Ying commanded, stopping at the couple.
"Never. I'll never let you get to her," Shan growled. Mr. Tang ignored him.
"Mingxia! Mingxia, my darling, don't do this! Think of everything he's done to hurt you! How can you forgive him after that? You came to see me for a reason, I know you did, I—"
"You went to see HIM? When the hell did this happen?" Shan asked.
Every eye in the arena was watching Mingxia. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It's true. I went to see him." Ying smirked triumphantly at Shan, but he didn't seem to care.
He took Mingxia's paws tenderly. "Xia…"
"It was when we were fighting! I didn't know what was going to happen, I was panicking! Please, Shan, nothing happened. I would never commit adultery. You know that." He gazed into her eyes, and then looked down at the ground.
"I know. It's just… I've always known I'm not good enough for you. And, when we were first married, I thought it would just be a matter of time before you left me for someone better. I just don't want to lose you, is all," he whispered.
She grinned and slid her arms around his waist. "You never will. And you are good enough for me. I wouldn't have married you in the first place if you weren't." Shan smiled at her, and leaned down to kiss her, but was stopped. He looked at her with a confused look on his face, but she smiled.
"We're not supposed to kiss until Shifu announces us as husband and wife."
"You know, love, we are still married. We can kiss whenever we want."
"Just be patient, and you'll get your reward," she said, teasingly putting a finger to his lips.
"May I continue now?" Master Shifu asked.
"No, don't you dare!" Ying yelled. He pulled Mingxia away from Shan.
"Ying, don't, it would never work out between us."
"But it could! If you would give it a chance… you would see how wonderful your life could truly be," he said, gripping her paws tightly.
She gently stroked his cheek. "Oh, Ying. You're really sweet. You always have been. But, my heart still belongs to my husband. And I doubt that he would sell it to you for any amount of money."
"Not for the largest sum in the world," Shan said dreamily, bringing Mingxia back into his arms. She grinned back at him.
He turned to Shifu. "Let's get this over with, shall we?" Shifu nodded and smiled.
"You're right. Shan, will you take Mingxia as your wife, forever, and never part from her again?" He smiled down at his wife and softly touched her cheek.
"I will."
"And Mingxia, will you take Shan as your husband, until the end of time, and always be by his side?"
With a grin, she replied, "I most certainly will."
"I will need some sort of acceptance from the groom's family…"
"Trust me," Shan's father said, "Mingxia's been welcome in this family since the two of them met. You have my permission to marry them."
Shifu smiled. "Good. Then under the spirits and the stars above us, I now proclaim you as husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Almost as soon as he had finished this sentence, Shan swept Mingxia up into his arms and connected their lips in a passionate kiss, which she returned with just as much zeal.
"Isn't there supposed to be a part where people object?" Mr. Tang asked angrily.
"Yes. But we decided to leave that part out. For time reasons," Shifu replied, smirking evilly. Everyone rushed forward to greet the couple with congratulations. Both Tigress and Clover hugged their parents tightly.
"By the way, girls…" Mingxia started.
"…You're grounded," Shan finished.
"Aw, come on! We save your marriage, and this is what we get as a thank you?" Clover asked angrily.
There was a light tap-tap-tapping as an old man with darkened glasses came through the crowd still surrounding the tigers. "Did my old ears hear correctly? Someone's just been married?" he asked in a wobbly voice.
Shan sighed heavily. "Yes, old man, you heard right. Now get out of here before I snap that walking stick over your head."
"Shan!" Mingxia scolded, hitting him on the arm.
"What? It's not like you want him here either!" But she scowled at him, and he kept his mouth shut.
"Oh, don't you two young'ns worry about me. I'll be gone before you know it…" And he disappeared into the crowd, tap-tap-tapping his stick. Shan and Mingxia looked at each other.
"Young'ns?"
"I can't believe that Ning's dad actually stormed in on the wedding like that. He really is a jerkwad," Clover spat. They all searched for him in the crowd, but he was gone.
Ning was helping Mrs. Tang to her feet, and she was crying, but there was no sign of the patriarch.
Mingxia sighed and walked over to Mrs. Tang. "I'm sorry."
Mrs. Tang looked up at her with a confused look.
"I never meant to put you through any of this, and I certainly didn't want to hurt Ning," she explained, smiling at both of them. Ning tried to smile back, but was having a hard time of it. Clover was immediately at his sided and gently rubbing his arm.
Mrs. Tang sighed. "I knew it would happen someday. I'm just… not your equal in his eyes."
"Well he's a fool. And if you need any help, Shan and I would be happy to assist you," Mingxia said.
Shan nodded as he came to stand beside her. "Of course. I don't know if you know, but Ning's been working as my delivery boy. And I almost am starting to like him."
"Almost?" Ning asked. Shan clapped him on the back.
"Boy, the only way to get into my good graces is if you stop seeing my daughter. But seeing as how that's probably not going to happen any time soon, I'd get used to it if I were you."
Ning half smiled, and that smile grew when Clover wrapped his arms around him and nuzzled his neck.
Mrs. Tang nodded. "I'll think on it."
"I'd better take her to lie down," Ning whispered.
"Of course, she can rest in the bunkhouse…" Tigress said, leading both snow leopards toward the building.
Slowly, the crowd dissipated and the night settled in, leaving only Shan and Mingxia, who were lying on their backs and looking up at the stars. "There's the hunter," Mingxia pointed out, tracing the star-studded belt with her finger. Shan nodded.
"And there's the queen."
He grunted.
"And the lion," she added, tracing another constellation.
"What, no tiger?"
"Funny, Shan, funny."
"How you remember all of these, I'll never know. But then again, what good does astronomy do to a carpenter?"
She turned on her side to look at him. "You used to love going out on clear nights to look at the stars."
He glanced at her. "Did I?"
"Yes. When we first came to the Valley, and we had nothing to do because you didn't have work and I did all of my chores during the day. Don't you remember?"
He chuckled. "To be completely honest, Xia, I wasn't really paying much attention to the stars. You know, except for the ones in your eyes."
"Shan, that line didn't work on me twenty years ago, and it doesn't work now." He smirked.
"You seemed to like it on the night we conceived Tigress." He wiggled his eyebrows at her. She laughed, but it faded away rather quickly.
"Shan?"
"Hmm?"
"Does this mean you'll come home? And you'll sleep in the same bed with me?" He smiled and took her into his arms.
"Of course. You may not believe this, but I missed you while I was gone. I hope I never have to be away from you for that long again."
"Good. But just so you know, I sort of trashed the house. Don't ever leave me again, I'll go insane," she said honestly.
"Mingxia, you're always a little insane. But that's what I like about you. If you were a perfect little porcelain doll, I might not be able to stand in the same room with you for more than a few minutes," he said.
They lay there in comfortable silence before Shan grabbed her paw and squeezed it. "Xia."
"Yes, Shan?"
"I need to ask you something about Tang Ying."
She groaned. "Shan, I really don't want to talk about him."
"I know, but… did you really go to see him?" he asked.
She nodded. "Now that I think about it, I'm not really sure why I did. Maybe I was just lonely without you around." She nuzzled him under the chin. "I actually don't do anything very interesting. You coming home is the highlight of my day."
"Which is what I feel so bad about sometimes."
She glanced at him. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"Think about it, Xia. If you were married to Tang Ying then you could be off exploring the world. You blossom in new experiences. And for all these years, I've been keeping you trapped here."
She smiled and climbed on top of him, gently rubbing noses with him. "Do you think if I was truly unhappy I would have stayed here for thirty-some years?"
"Maybe you would, if you pitied me enough," he said.
She laughed and stroked his cheek. "Shan, I wouldn't trade my life for any other in the world. I fully believe that you are my soul mate. These years have been the best of my life."
He wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Promise?"
"I promise."
She gently rested her head on his chest, and he ran his paws over her cheek. "Married for almost thirty years, with one daughter getting married and one fresh out of school. We're getting old, Mingxia."
"Old and gray, Shan."
A/N: I just realized that I've had this typed up for like, a week and a half and I didn't post it. That was not very smart of me.
This chapter did not take me long to write, or at least not as long as I thought it would. I hope everyone enjoyed the fruits of my labour, and please leave me a review on what you thought about it. Holla!