Hello there.

Before we start, I wanted to take the time to shout out to "your kfp weeb", the person who gave me my first comment! And to everyone else who left a comment; thank you so much! Also, just so nobody's confused, this is not an AU. I will not be changing any of the movies or its spin-offs (like LoA. I haven't actually got around to watching Paws of Destiny yet, so I'm not sure what important stuff happens there).

Anyway, on with the show!

Five years later

The sun was shining on the beach. It was a beautiful day, but there was only one to enjoy it. Running along the beach and splashing in the water was a little five-year old male tiger. He was running around with the simple joy only found in children. Playing in the sand, splashing in the water, he felt free. Free from the constant nagging of his caretakers and parents. Out here on the beach, he felt like he could be himself. He felt like he could be a child. Little did he know that he was being watched all of the time. After all, the son of the Chief and Chieftess, who were gods, must be taken care of at all costs. Soon after Zhu's little… incident, the Chieftess was pregnant once again. Nine months later, much to the joy of his parents (and of Zhu and Xi), little Shian was born. He was the ninth child of the Chief and Chieftess, and he was their second child to live for more than twenty-four hours.

Shortly after Zhu and Xi's blunder with the eighth child, the most terrible thing happened. The boar found them. They had remained hidden in their woodland hideout for years, but somehow, someway, he found them. One day, he and his army came. There was a terrible battle, but, much to their luck, the boar came unprepared, and the tigers held off him and his army. But they knew they could not stay there. He would be back with greater force next time. So they abandoned their home and fled. They fled for miles and miles, until they came to the sea. At the ports, someone was waiting for them. Qin-bao, the leader of the wolves, was waiting with a whole fleet of ships. He owed the Chief of the Clan of Tigers a debt from long ago, and, when he had heard of his predicament, he had come to his rescue. Not because he cared about them, but because he was old-fashioned, and believed in paying off his debts. They boarded the ships, and the wolves took them to a large island far from the eastern coast of China and dropped them off there. Qin-bao took his men back to their own island. Their new home was uninhabited, as it had not been discovered by the Chinese government. However, the Polynesian explorers shortly discovered them. Fruitful as they were, the Polynesian traders smelled a potential trading partner. And with some supplies received in exchange for cutting down the many, many trees on the island, the Clan set about building their new home. Progress was slow at first, but they soon adapted to their needs through trial and error, and they could finally settle on the island and remain sustainable, thanks in part to the many supplies and large quantities of food traded with the Polynesians. However, the Chief and Chieftess missed their old, expensive lifestyle. So that is why the Palace was being built. For four years, the Clan members had been building it, mostly with supplies from the traders. When it was finished, it would be majestic. Until then, the Chief and Chieftess just had to be satisfied with living in their large wooden cabin, which looked like everyone else's cabin, except for its size.

Shian's first memories were on the beach. Just him and his parents together. For him, there were few other people in the world.

"Oh, I like Uncle Zhu and Uncle Xi, too," the child thought to himself, now sitting down close to the water, letting the waves brush his little legs. You see, after their incident, the Chief had been merciful, seeing as Zhu had already been punished enough by whoever took his eighth child from him. The event seriously affected Xi, as he became much more serious about his duties than before. Deep down, he was terribly ashamed that his talking and lack of attention had led to Zhu's life-changing injuries. Now, Zhu's right hand and right eye were no longer attached to his body. After the incident, Zhu and Xi served under the Chief and Chieftess most faithfully, until they became good friends, although they couldn't let the other know about it, as gods were not supposed to be friends with mortals. Even loyal ones. However, the two of them were elevated in their military ranking, with Zhu being second only to the General himself, and Xi becoming the Admiral, right underneath Zhu. When Shian was born shortly after they moved to the island, Zhu and Xi had become like uncles to him. People that he could go to for safety but wouldn't judge him like his parents.

Shian's thoughts were interrupted as he heard the bells ring. Upon hearing them, he ran off back into the growing village. At the entrance, he was met with several other tigers coming out in a hurry.

"What's happening?" Shian asked the crowd. Immediately, every member of the crowd got down on their knees and lowered their heads. The one nearest to him spoke first. "My lord, the ships have been sighted."

Shian's heart jumped for joy. You see, over the years, the tigers longed to get their revenge on the boar and take back their lost land. A few weeks ago, after building up a sufficient supply of weapons, armor, and ships (after the Polynesians had taught them how to use them), young and middle-aged, males and females alike set sail to take back their land from the army that they knew awaited them on the shore. But now, they were coming home. Shian wondered if they had won.

Now following the other tigers down to the docks, Shian could see the faint outline of ships on the horizon. They anxiously stood on the docks for what felt like hours, until the ships got bigger and bigger until they eventually arrived and dropped anchor. The planks were set down and the soldiers started to disembark from their journey. As they got closer, Shian could see that their heads were all drooping to the ground. Zhu was the first one off of the first ship to dock. Shian thought that was strange, as the chain of command always determined the order in which they left the ship. The Chief would be the first to enter, and the first to leave. He would be followed by the Chieftess, and then the General, followed by the General's second, which was Zhu, followed by the Admiral, which was Xi, and so forth. Zhu walked down to where everyone was standing. He sternly said to everyone in his gruff voice,

"I need to speak with my lord. Alone." Immediately, everyone except for Shian scattered. Zhu bent down until he was at Shian's height. Zhu prepared to tell him the terrible news.

"Hi there. How have you been?" Zhu asked politely as he stalled for time. He had a soft spot for Shian, and he was the only one he would talk to like that.

However, Shian was getting worried at everyone's dejected faces.

"Where's Mommy and Daddy?" he asked Zhu.

Zhu bit his lip. "Umm, well, you see, it didn't go so well at the battle. The boar was much more prepared than we could have ever expected."

Shian was getting scared. "WHERE'S MOMMY AND DADDY!?" he shouted at Zhu as loud as his little lungs could shout.

Zhu closed his eyes. "Well, Shian. They're… they're… they're dead." Shian looked at Zhu in disbelief for a few seconds. Then, as the realization that his parents weren't coming back finally broke through to Shian, he began to cry. He leaned on Zhu's broad shoulder and began sobbing uncontrollably. Looking up through his tear-filled eyes, he saw Xi right behind Zhu, looking absolutely heartbroken. Between the loss of his lord, mistress, general, and many of the Clan, and the heart-wrenching sight before him, Xi himself was on the verge of tears. Zhu picked up Shian with his left arm, and balanced him on his shoulder with the stump of his right hand as Shian continued to sob and wail. Xi placed a hand on the back of Shian, and together, the three of them headed back towards the village.

Twenty-one years later- present time

Tigress shot up in bed. She was sweating and panting, even though she had just been sleeping. She looked around the dark room, and eventually became satisfied that it was her own, and that she was in the Jade Palace. Her fur was matted down on her face, and she looked a mess. She had that nightmare again.

The nightmare was always the same. First she would wake up in that… cage of a room that they had locked her in. She would look down, and see that she was a small child again. Then, she would pound the door again, and again, and again, until the hinges would finally succumb to the pressure and the door would fall over. She would step out, and look around the hallway she was suddenly in. Lining the hallway, there was everybody that she ever remembered from the orphanage. Kids of different ages and all of the caretakers were there. They would all see her, and everybody would shrink back to the walls. She could hear the head caretaker shouting out,

"Stay back everyone! She's a monster! A monster!"

Tigress would shout at them, "No, no! I'm not a monster! I can control myself now! Look, look!" She would search for the pair of dominoes that Shifu had left her in her pockets, and take them out.

"Look, look!" she shouted at everyone. But the head caretaker would shout to everyone,

"It's a trick! She'll never change! She'll always be a monster!" Tigress would feel herself getting angry at the caretaker's lies, and she would hold up the dominoes to show everyone that she was telling the truth. But they would already be crushed in her hand. Her hand would be shaking as the splinters fell through her fingers. The head caretaker would point at her and say,

"You see!" The anger would be too much for Tigress to handle, and she would let loose a roar that would have frightened the stones that made up the walls. Everyone in the hallway would run away. Tigress would fall down on the ground and pull up her knees to her chin. "Don't go," she thought to herself, all the anger gone, replaced with a sorrow that was sharper than any sword. She would stand up and turn around. The entrance to the orphanage would be there, and she would open the door, thinning that she would run away from this place. She didn't know where she would go, as long as it was away from here. She would look down and see a bundle wrapped up. She would squat down to look at it, and a pair of amber eyes would stare up at her innocently. She would look up, desperately searching for whoever dropped her off here. She jumped over the child and ran deeper and deeper into the rainy night. She would shout into the darkness, "Where are you! WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME HERE!" She couldn't see anything around her, but she kept running and running. Finally she would stumble and fall, but right before she would hit the ground, she would wake up.

She used to have the dream frequently shortly after arriving at the Jade Palace. It only became more and more frequent when Shifu became more and more distant, determined not to repeat his mistakes with Tai Lung. When she gathered the Five together, she started to become happy again. However, Shifu's strict training system rendered them more of coworkers than friends. The dream came back again. Then Po came.

"Po," she thought warmly to herself. Po had been an… interesting turn of events in her life, to say the least. At first, she had seen him as nothing but a clumsy oaf who had no business in the Jade Palace, not even as a servant. But, over the few years they had known each other, Po had affected Tigress in ways she didn't know possible. Now, whenever she thought about him, about his silly antics and fanboy nature, she couldn't help but feel all warm inside. She didn't know what to call this feeling, but she did know she liked it. A lot.

Now fully awake from her nightmare, and much too alert to go back to bed, Tigress decided she needed to go somewhere to think. You see, after Po hand found his father and the village of pandas, Tigress started to wonder why she was left at the orphanage and who left her there. For most of her life, she was able to push the questions out of her mind. But now that Li Shan and the pandas moved to the Valley of Peace, she couldn't help but think about it.

Tigress softly got out of bed and walked to the door without a single sound. She, unlike Po, actually had a stealth mode, being a tiger. She slid open her door and walked down the hallway. She kept walking until she noticed a small light coming from the kitchen. She didn't have to think very hard about who might be in there. She walked in the doorframe of the kitchen and took in the sight before her.

Po was turned with her back from her, but she could see he was hunched over something, and next to him was a lit candle. She could hear the crunch of something he was eating. Tigress softly knocked on the door frame, and Po snapped his head to where she was standing.

"Oh, Monkey I'm so sor- oh, it's just you Tigress," Po switched from panic to relief, before switching to panic again. "Please don't tell Monkey," Po practically begged.

Tigress gave a small smile. "Don't worry, I won't tell him."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Tigress." Po looked at Tigress for a few seconds before he started to feel a little guilty. "Did I wake you up?" he asked apologetically.

"No," Tigress told him immediately. She instantly regretted it, and wished she had told him "yes," because she knew the question which was coming next.

"So what are you doing up?" Po asked innocently enough.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Oh, what, me? I was just laying in bed and thought about Monkey's almond cookies. I know he doesn't like it when I eat them, but I just couldn't go back to bed when all I could think about was the crunchiness of the outside and the smooth... " Po realized he had started to rant. "Sorry. But still, you didn't answer my question."

Tigress signed. She just couldn't bring herself to lie to the panda. She might as well have someone to confide her thoughts to, and who better than Po.

Tigress gestured to Po. "Follow me." Tigress left the kitchen and headed outside, followed by Po. They stepped out into the night, and Tigress headed to the wooded area outside of the palace. Po wondered where Tigress was taking him and what she wanted to talk about, as she normally went to the Sacred Peach Tree when she was deeply thinking about something. However, it had taken years for Tigress to slowly open up to Po and everyone else, so he supposed he could wait just a few moments longer. Finally, Tigress and Po entered the woods and Tigress went straight in one direction, very familiar with the area. On the other hand, Po could only look around in confusion, as it was an area he wasn't normally in. After walking for a few minutes, Tigress stopped, and Po looked around him. It was a normal cluster of trees, but upon closer inspection, Po could see that some of the trees had fallen, and were nearly shattered at the base, but not towards the top. He approached the trees, and could see deep indentations in them, like someone had brought a sledgehammer to chop them with. He suddenly knew where they were.

He turned around to face Tigress. "This is where you punched the ironwood trees for years."

Tigress only nodded. She walked over to one of the fallen trees and took a seat. She then gestured for Po to sit next to her. Po walked over and sat down.

"Tigress, are you alright? I know this place is important to you, but why take me here in the middle of the night? Were you planning on coming out here by yourself?" Concern laced every one of Po's words.

Tigress said nothing for a few moments, and then she started speaking softly. "Ever since we came back from your father's village, I can't stop thinking about my parents, and my time at the orphanage."

Po knew that Tigress's time at the orphanage was terrible, and felt guilty that his happiness of finding his father came at the expense of Tigress. He hated seeing her like this, and wanted to help her feel better anyway he could.

"Tigress, I know that you've gone through more than I could ever imagine. But, like I learned with Shen, your past doesn't define who you are. You can choose who you are, right now. It doesn't matter why your parents left you at the orphanage. I'm absolutely certain that your parents loved you and that they only left you there because they had no other choice."

Tigress had already foreseen this response from Po. How easy it was to let go of his past when he already knew it, she thought. She, on the other hand, would never know what happened to her parents. Were they still alive somewhere, she thought? Were they wishing that they could get back to her, wishing that they could see her just one more time before they died? Or had they forgotten all about her? Maybe they never loved her at all.

Po started to get worried about Tigress's silence. "Umm, Tigress? You okay?"

Tigress realized she must have gotten lost in her thoughts. "What? Oh, sorry, Po. I just…" she really didn't know what to say. Po took a gamble and decided to move in to hug her. Tigress was startled by it, but she didn't push him away, enjoying his warmth.

"It's okay, Tigress. You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. I'll always be here for you. We'll always be here for you," Po emphasized. Tigress pulled out his hug reluctantly. The Sun would be rising soon and the morning gong would be ringing. She didn't really want to have to explain her disappearance.

"Come on, Po." She stood up and headed back to the barracks with Po following behind her. They walked out of the woods around the Jade Palace, but just before they got to the entrance, Po tapped Tigress on the shoulder and pointed at something.

"Hey, isn't that Zeng?" Tigress looked to where he was pointed. She could make out the outline of a bird frantically flying to the doors of the palace. He got closer and closer until he landed with a plop in front of them, catching his breath.

"What's happened, Zeng?" Po asked with worry.

Zeng continued panting for a few more seconds before responding with, "There's been a robbery in a house south of here." He kept on panting some more.

"A robbery?" Tigress thought to herself. Not that she wasn't willing to help the victim, but the Five were usually only summoned if there was a large-scale bandit raid or other large threat. There must have been something special about this robbery. "What happened?" Tigress asked with more emphasis.

"Oh… whew. The victim reported that she was robbed by a creature she had never seen before. It wasn't a species she recognized. She said it had…" Zeng looked for the right words.

Po put a hand on Zeng's back. "Come on, let's go wake up the others." With that, they went inside.

So... what did you think? Please, leave a comment if you liked it!

As always, keep being awesome!