Hello there!

I thank you all for reading this far and I hope you've been enjoying the story so far!

First of all, I would like to thank Frozenwolfheart22 for everything. It is with much gratitude that I announce that the writer is now a co-author of this story :)

Second of all, I owe you all a slight apology. When I wrote the prologue for this story, it took place after Part 1. The only problem with that kind of prologue is that I forced myself to do certain things in order for things to fall in place to match what the prologue said. Unfortunately, I've rethought one detail about the story, which affects a few sentences said in the prologue.

Long story short, in the prologue, there are one or two sentences that describe The Empress as having a paralzed paw. (It was actually only one sentence, so you may not remember unless you've read the prologue recently). However, it now reads that she has a blind eye instead. This is because I made some changes to The Empress as a villain during Part 2, and now need her to have that paw working right. It's not a major detail, but I'm leaving this note here for anyone who caught it and might see it in the future.

To wrap it up, I think we've entered the countdown phase! I can't say for certain yet, but we might be only three chapters (after this one) out from the end of part 1! (Or maybe four. Anyway, it's still sub-five, so it's still a countdown).

On with the show!

Dragon Warrior Noodles And Tofu

Mr. Ping looked up at the leopardess and her son with an open beak.

An assassin? That frail, skinny goat? Surely not, he thought.

The goose shook his head. "I'm sorry, we must be talking about two different people."

Lianmin and Peng had listened as Po had told them that he had bumped into a goat that met the description of the assassin. He told them that he had just come from his dads' noodle shop, and maybe his dads might be able to tell them more about the goat. They had hurried down the Thousand Steps with this new clue, and quickly introduced themselves to Mr. Ping and Li Shan, and then entered the kitchen to speak with a little more privacy.

Lianmin sighed. "Look, I know it may not seem like it, but you do agree that he matches the description, right?"

Mr. Ping shrugged. "Well, yeah, I guess so. But let me tell you, this guy has been coming here for a few years. He's harmless. He's the kind of person who would be scared of the dark; I can assure you he's not the person you're looking for."

"I'm not saying he's the one, I don't know either, but I hope you can understand that it's my duty to explore all the possibilities. One thing: you said that he's come here everyday for years. Did he come these last few weeks?"

"Well, no, he didn't, which is a little strange, but he came back just about a week ago."

"Master Croc's assassin would have arrived here just about a week ago."

Mr. Ping shook his head. "Look, you said you were looking for some kind of assassin, maybe someone who's working for the bandits. This guy is not an assassin, I can assure you."

"Hey," Li Shan nudged Mr. Ping with his elbow. The two had been sitting on one side of the kitchen while Lianmin and Peng had been sitting on the other.

"What?"

"Doesn't he work over at the pharmacy?"

Lianmin's ears perked up at this. "What? What did you say?"

Mr. Ping slowly nodded, his expression becoming more sure of itself. "Yeah, yeah, I think you're right!"

Lianmin stood up, anxious to see if she had gotten that lucky.

"Right about what!?"

Mr. Ping turned back towards her. "I think Li here is right; he has a job, right here in the Valley. He works in a pharmacy not too far from here. I think he works the counter or something."

Lianmin crossed the room in what seemed like one giant stride, eagerly shaking Mr. Ping and Li Shan's wing or paw.

"Oh, thank you very much! Hopefully we're on the right track!" She quickly turned around and headed towards the door, but Mr. Ping's inner businessman kicked in.

"Don't you want to get some noodles before you go? Surely tracking down criminals would make you hungry?"

But Lianmin didn't get to hear the goose's words, as she had already exited the door before he had a chance to say them, leaving all of them in the kitchen.

Peng stood up and gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Sorry. She gets really excited whenever she's close to something. I'd love to stay and talk, but…" he chuckled again. "Work always comes first with mom."

Mr. Ping waved his wing in a gesture of understanding. As Peng turned to leave, Mr. Ping called out-

"Oh, and one other thing. The goat? His name is Shao."

The Jade Palace

After the meeting, Tigress had gone back to her favorite place. The Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom. Of course, she liked the Dragon Grotto, it was peaceful and relaxing, but she always felt as if the grotto was a place of work, a place of focus. But the tree, the tree was hers, a place to come to whenever she felt lost. The Peach Tree would always be there for her, no matter what.

Tigress was sitting down, her legs crossed, her back against the tree, and her arms folded across her chest. At first, she had tried to meditate, but she soon found that she couldn't do so.

"Who is she to tell me what I can't do?" Tigress asked herself. "I've been training for times like this nearly my whole life, and now she says I should stay out of it? No, not now, not if Po's in danger. I can't let anything happen to Po. Without him…" Tigress couldn't bring herself to finish that thought in her mind.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard some soft footsteps approach her. She turned her head around, and there was Lei Lei, looking up at Tigress with more adoration than Tigress felt she deserved. But there was also something else in her eyes, something Tigress couldn't quite place.

Tigress gave a soft smile and tried to hide her frustration. "Hey, Lei Lei. How have you been doing?"

Lei Lei was silent for a few seconds, which was very strange for her. She normally got excellent speaking practice whenever she or one of the Five were with her. She would surely become an expert speaker when she grew up. The gods knew she practiced a lot.

She kept staring at Tigress, that strange look still in her eyes. Finally, she waddled her way over to the seated tiger and put her small arms around Tigress' neck the best she could.

At first, Tigress was a little surprised, but she soon wrapped her own arms around the panda cub. They stayed like that for a few seconds as Tigress let her worries melt away with the cub in her arms.

Tigress briefly thought about how happy she was that Lei Lei had been introduced to her life. It was almost like a smaller version of Po, opening her up and getting her to do things she would have never considered. Yes, she may have talked a lot, and she may have taken up some of their time that might have been used for training, but no matter what Lei Lei may have taken from her, it was always worth it whenever she was clutching Tigress' leg, looking up at her with those big eyes. Tigress could never understand why Lei Lei liked her so much. She had literally come out of nowhere and into her village, and it seemed as if Lei Lei had thought to herself, "You know, I don't know that person over there with the stripes, but I'm going to love that person anyway."

It occured to Tigress that the world would have been a much better place if everyone thought that way.

Sometimes, Tigress didn't feel worthy of Lei Lei's love. Sometimes, she didn't think she had done anything to deserve it. But that was what made it so special. She loved her anyway.

Finally, Tigress pulled away from Lei Lei's hug, as it seemed like the panda cub was content to stand in that position forever.

Tigress gave a slight chuff. "What was that for?"

"Stripy Baby sad," she simply replied.

"Is it that obvious?" Tigress wondered to herself.

"No, I'm not sad, I'm just…" Tigress really couldn't bring herself to lie that blatantly. And even as she spoke, Lei Lei raised her eyebrow up in a way that mimicked Po perfectly. Tigress couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"Okay, yeah, I'm a little sad," she said, a little more truth in her words this time. "But I'll be okay."

"You promise?"

Tigress chuckled. "Yes. I promise."

With that, Lei Lei turned away, as she had enough sense to realize that Tigress was politely asking her to leave her alone for a little while.

Lei Lei walked back down the steps that led up to the Peach Tree. She crossed the bottom step and began to head back to the Palace, but her ears picked up on something cutting through the quiet space around her.

"Psst," she heard. She looked around, but she couldn't see anyone.

"Psst," she heard again, a little louder this time. She searched around more carefully, but still couldn't find anything.

"Hey, Lei Lei," she heard, loud enough this time so that she turned around. In front of her were a row of neatly-trimmed bushes. She briefly wondered when bushes learned to speak, but her question was soon resolved when Po stuck his head out from one of the bushes.

"Hey, Lei Lei, come over here for a second."

Lei Lei happily skipped over to Cuddles. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm… I'm…" Po didn't really know how to word "I'm protectively spying on Tigress," so he simply said, "I'm making sure that these bushes are trimmed neatly."

Lei Lei looked around the bush. It looked neat to her.

Po seemed to pick up on her thought process, so he said, "I mean, you have to check to see that the inside of the bushes are trimmed."

Lei Lei giggled at the joke.

"Anyway," he continued, "Can you do something for me?"

Lei Lei eagerly nodded.

"Can you do something really important?

Lei Lei now hopped in place with excitement, proud that Po entrusted her with something he called "important."

Po reached out, as only his head stuck out of the bush, and put his closed paw over Lei Lei's. She opened her paw, and Po dropped something in it. She looked at the object in her hand. It was a small box; it fit in her small paw perfectly.

Po took in a deep breath, hoping he was doing the right thing.

"I need you to go back to Tigress and give her that box, please."

Lei Lei shook her head up and down so fast Po was afraid it might fall right off her shoulders.

She turned around and began sprinting back up the steps toward the Peach Tree.

Meanwhile, Po tried to get out of the bush he was engulfed in, wondering how he had ever gotten in there in the first place.

Valley Streets

Lianmin was walking so fast it might have been considered a jog. Peng was struggling to keep up as his mother anxiously searched the shops for the pharmacy that their target was said to work in.

"Hey, mom," Peng gasped, trying to get his mother to talk in order to slow her down. "You think we should slow down a bit?"

"Slow down?" she asked, briefly turning her head to look at Peng before turning her head back toward the shop signs. "When we're this close?"

Realizing there was no other solution, Peng sped up to match his mother's pace. "But mom, you heard Mr. Ping, this guy just doesn't fit the description. Sure, he may look like the assassin, but come on, this guy? He works a day job and goes to a noodle restaurant every day! Not something I envision a professional assassin doing."

"That's not for us to decide. We'll go to this pharmacy and see him. See what he's like for ourselves. Then we'll-"

Suddenly, Lianmin stopped talking and stopped walking. Peng stopped alongside her.

"What?" he asked.

She gestured with her chin. Peng turned to where she pointed. There it was, a small shop with nothing but a simple bamboo door in the front, with the words "Pharmacy" painted on the front of the building.

Both mother and son took a deep breath.

"Alright," Lianmin said, resuming her business tone. Peng paid careful attention to her next words, as he knew they were going to be important.

"We're going in. Keep your eyes wide. We don't know what he might try. Follow my lead. Don't talk unless you're prompted. Don't touch anything. We're going to be a pair of normal customers, looking for some herbs. Understand?"

Peng nodded, and his mother simply said, "Okay. Let's go."

The two walked forward at a normal pace, despite that their heart rates were far above normal.

Peng's excitement and fear were reaching a peak as they neared the door. Here he was, he thought. The person who killed the great Master Croc of Gongmen City might be just behind this door. What was he like, he wondered? It was time to find out.

Lianmin gently pushed open the door and walked through, Peng following close behind. She closed the door behind her and the two blinked as they adjusted their eyes to the darker room, lit by nothing but candlelight.

They were in a small shop, lined with shelves that held an assortment of herbs, plants, and mushrooms. On the back were two other doors, which Peng assumed one to be a back entrance and the other to be a closet. On one side was a counter, where a goat stood on the other side. Peng immediately glanced at him, but made sure not to stare too long.

Peng saw a young male goat with pale white fur. But he also saw nothing more than a thin, frail person who worked as a cashier in a pharmacy. The goat was looking off in a slightly different direction, and Peng followed his gaze across the room to a fat ram who was getting up off of a stool on the other side of the shop.

"Hello!" the ram merrily greeted them. "Is there anything we can get you folks?"

Lianmin assumed the best customer impression as she already had walked in with her back slumped a little and her arms swinging around care-free.

"Yeah, actually, I've been having these bad headaches as of late, and I was wondering if you had anything for it."

The ram's countenance lit up. "Oh, yeah, we got some of that. It's just over…" the ram began to walk over to the other side of the shop, near the counter, but slowed down when he realized he really didn't know where it was. "Umm, where is it Shao?"

The goat gave a soft sigh, walked back across the shop where the ram had started, reached up to one of the top shelves, and pulled down a bundle of plants roped together.

The ram gave a slight chuckle at his lack of knowledge of his own shop. "Oops."

Meanwhile, Shao walked back around the counter, placed the bundle on it, and said, "That'll be ten coins, please."

Lianmin reached inside her vest in one of her inner pockets and pulled out the required charge. She placed it on the counter and took the herbs. Peng noticed that she briefly looked up at the goat while she grabbed the bundle, and the goat looked back for an instant. Then, Lianmin said, "Thank you," and turned around to leave.

Peng followed her out of the door.

Meanwhile, Shao turned to Qian.

"See, aren't you proud of me? I served some predators and wasn't even rude."

Qian's smile that he always wore whenever a customer was in the building faded, and he folded his arms across his chest.

"Well, it would certainly be the first time."

Qian closed his eyes and gripped the bridge of his nose with the tips of his hoof.

"Have you given your goals any more thought?"

Shao signed. He really didn't want to say it out loud.

"Yeah, I have. I can't think of anything better. I guess I'll just have to try it at the wedding."

Qian chuckled. "Man, even for me, that's pretty harsh."

Shao raised his brow. "For you?" He found it strange that it would be harsh for his boss, as he was the one who would be doing the deed.

"Yeah, I suggested it in the first place."

"Hmm, I guess so."

"I mean, think about it. Their wedding; it's supposed to be the happiest moment of their lives. Everything's supposed to be perfect. And then you're going to come along and…" Qian let the silence finish his sentence.

"It sounds like you're encouraging me not to do it," Shao replied, slightly irritated at his boss' fickleness. Shao was fickle enough for his own good, he didn't need the only person in his life that he talked to to stop backing him up.

"Oh no, no, I still support you, I'm just saying, you know? Most people get dressed in white for a wedding. Maybe we should tell them to wear black."

Meanwhile, Lianmin and Peng had left the shop and were now aimlessly wandering the streets. Or rather, Lianmin was wandering and Peng was following. They walked in silence for a little bit, Lianmin now walking much slower than before. Peng let her think for a little bit before asking-

"So, what do you think?"

She paused for a second, and then slowly shook her head. "No. I was hoping that we were on the right track. But it can't be that easy. You saw that guy at the counter. Does anything about him suggest an assassin?"

Peng shook his head too. "No. Well, what do we do now?"

Lianmin stopped walking, staring off into the distance as she tried to gather her thoughts.

She sighed. "I don't know. We've missed something, but I don't know what. We can find this person, and the answer is always closer than you think, yet somehow... we can't see it. Hmm."

Peng was growing frustrated, as he too had hoped that the assassin would have been in that shop. It had seemed unlikely, and Mr. Ping had warned them that they were wasting their time, but somehow, there was a glimmer of hope that it was possible. Now, their hope had been dashed and they found themselves back in the dark.

"Alright, okay," he said, trying to calm himself down more than his mother. "So where do we look now? Who do we go to?"

Lianmin scratched the back of her head. "Hmm. Let's go back to Mr. Ping."

"Ah! You think he can tell us about some other people?"

Lianmin looked at Peng with a blank face for a second before breaking out in a rare smile.

"No, no. We're not going for information. We're going for noodle soup."

Peng raised his brow. "Noodle soup? Now?"

His mother nodded.

Peng was baffled. "But, we have an assassin on the loose! We have to get on top of this now!"

Lianmin raised her paw in the air to silence Peng. "Relax. He's not going to do anything today. He won't make a move against Po until he's within reach."

"But-"

"-No buts. We need to eat if we're going to be useful. Come on. Let's go."

The Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom

Tigress was still sitting against the Peach Tree, her arms folded across her chest and her eyes closed. She was in a state somewhere between thinking and meditating. She had begun to calm down, and was no longer quite as stressed as before, but she was still thinking deeply about things.

What could she do, she thought? Lianmin didn't want her to leave the Palace for fear of being made an easy target.

"No," Tigress suddenly thought to herself. The thought caused her to open her eyes and lean forward. "No, she doesn't need me to stay in the Palace. She needs Po to stay in the Palace. If bandits are paying for an assassin, then they'd be coming for him."

An idea was beginning to form in Tigress's mind. If they were after Po, then she could go down by herself. She only had to make sure that Lianmin didn't find her snooping around, as it probably wouldn't make for a friendly conversation. And given their interaction in the Palace, it would most likely get ugly quickly.

But how, she wondered? Where should she look? Where should she go? When it came to protecting the Valley from people like bandits, she was unparalleled, but when it came to finding one person? Well, she wasn't exactly trained for that.

But whenever she came to that conclusion, she felt a burning sensation inside her that screamed with a fiery rage at this threat to Po. She couldn't sit by and do nothing. She was going to find this person. Nothing was going to come between them like this. And no one would ever hurt her family on her watch.

But, every time that protective rage died down and she started thinking rationally again, she arrived at the same conclusion over and over. She simply didn't know how to look for the assassin. She would probably do more harm than good looking for him, as the people of the Valley were well aware of the fact that she rarely ever came down for pleasure visits. If word got out that she was wandering the streets and asking questions about a certain person, the assassin would surely hear of it. Then, he would either speed up his plans or counter Tigress' search for him in some other way.

Tigress' thoughts were interrupted when she heard the sound of light footsteps behind her yet again. She turned back around.

Lei Lei was standing there, but this time, she looked different. She was standing up straight with her paws behind her back. She wore a strange smile on her face, as if she was trying to hide something but doing a very terrible job of it. And instead of standing still, she was fidgeting in place, bouncing on the tips of her stubby little feet.

Tigress' worries were temporarily forgotten at the sight of the panda cub. She cracked a soft smile and bent her head to the side, curious as to what Lei Lei was about to tell her.

"Yes, Lei Lei?" she asked. "What is it?"

Trying to contain a giggle, Lei Lei pulled out her paws from behind her back, revealing a small black box. She handed it to Tigress, who took it in her paws.

Tigress smiled, appreciative that Lei Lei was trying to cheer her up. "What's this?"

Lei Lei could barely contain herself at this point. Tigress decided to end Lei Lei's suffering, as the panda cub was clearly dying for her to open the box.

She took it in her paws and slowly opened it up. Inside the box, resting on some padding, was a golden ring, topped with a diamond.

Tigress stared down at the ring in her paws. Almost on cue, Tigress could here the huffing and puffing of Po as he came up the steps to the Peach Tree as fast as he possibly could.

"Whew!" he said when he reached the top, chuckling. "Lei Lei, you were supposed to wait for me!"

The panda cub could only giggle back. Po turned back to look at Tigress, who was still looking down at what she held in her paws. Po smiled, took a few steps forward, and got down on one knee.

He finally said the words that he had wanted to for so long.

"Tigress-" At this, Tigress finally glanced back up at Po, her eyes doing their best to contain tears of joy.

"-Will you take me; a goofy, clumsy panda, as your husband?"

Tigress simply stood there in silence for a few seconds. The truth was, she simply couldn't believe it. After life at the Palace with Shifu, who had made some crucial mistakes in raising her, she had begun to believe that love simply wasn't meant for her. And here she was, the love of her life officially asking for her paw in marriage. It was no longer just a relationship, no longer a dream. It couldn't be taken away anymore. It couldn't fail. Tigress didn't want to move; didn't want to say anything. She just wanted to stand there in that position forever, suspended in eternal happiness. But she finally came back down to earth, and she smiled.

"I do."

Po cracked a smile so wide it must have broken a record, and stood back up. Tigress threw her arms around Po and Po did the same. They were only able to share a moment together before they felt their legs being grabbed. They both looked down to see Lei Lei happily hugging their legs.

Tigress pulled out of the hug just enough so she could look into Po's eyes, but their snouts were still almost touching.

"I see you got Lei Lei to do your dirty work for you."

Po gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Yeah, but I knew it would work."

Tigress raised her brow. Then, she got an idea.

Her tail swished around from behind her, gently wrapping itself around Po's free leg, and she adjusted her eyes so that they were half-lidded. "And how exactly did you know that?" She spoke in a soft tone made of the finest silk, her tongue taking the time to make every word music to Po's ears.

Po bit his lip in a mixture of surprise and satisfaction.

"I know that Tigress doesn't spend too much time trying to please other people," Po thought to himself, "but damn, she can be downright sexy if she wants to."

"Umm, well," he began, trying to get his focus off of Tigress half-lidden amber eyes.

"Those eyes, though," he thought to himself. "Oh, I could stare into those eyes for a hundred years."

"Hmm?" Tigress hummed, demanding an answer.

"Hm, oh, right!" Po chuckled. He supposed he had been a little too lost in Tigress' eyes. "I mean, come on, Lei Lei is like guaranteed happiness for you."

Tigress raised her brow. "What do you mean?"

Po scratched the back of his head. "Well, I know you got a little upset back there in the kitchen, and I thought sending Lei Lei up first would calm you down. You know you can't stay mad whenever she's around."

To prove his point, he looked down at the cub, who had her face happily buried in Tigress' leg as she clung to both of them.

"Just look at her. Who could stay mad around her?"

Tigress was also looking down at Lei Lei, a warmth emanating from her expression that she saved only for the young cub. Eventually, though, her eyes found their way back to Po.

She suddenly realized something.

"Aren't you supposed to put the ring on my finger?"

Po's eyes went wide. "Oh! Yeah!" He finally pulled out of the hug they had been sharing. Tigress handed the open box to Po, as she had been holding it around his back during their hug. Po took out the ring and slid it through Tigress' finger.

Tigress decided to seal the deal by grabbing her love once again and giving him a kiss he wouldn't soon forget.

As Po reacted to Tigress' heated kiss and responded in kind, a thought passed by his mind.

"This is a little new, but I could definitely get used to this kind of Tigress!" he thought with no small amount of satisfaction.

And that's it for now! I hope you'll tune in next time a chapter roles around!

Keep being awesome!