A/N: Like I said my updating will rely totally on my work schedule and whether my body decides to give me a cold THREE DAYS before my job interview. I rearranged some things to give you a special chapter as an apology.

Loves you!

She sat on the floor, legs splayed back against the end of the bed, struggling not to hyperventilate. The massive gash across her cheek stung bitterly, and she found that her paws were shaking despite her desperately trying to control them. Never before had she felt so useless than in her time here. She briefly feared that she was becoming weak.

"No." She shifted her weight to her right side and placed her paw on the bed to try and lift herself up. Her arm shook as she tried to climb onto the bed. Her ribs screamed with every breath.

"No!" She recognized that voice. Who was it? As the boy came to help her, she looked into his face. Through the haze of her vision, she felt a flicker of recognition.

"Oh, Kai. It's you." She mumbled. He helped her sit on the bed and waited for her to stabilize herself before he took his hand off her back. He kept one of her paws his two for a moment and crouched at the end of the bed, looking up at her.

"You have a concussion." He muttered disapprovingly. Is that why she felt so dizzy? He moved away for a moment and grabbed a bowl filled with water, and a cloth. He gingerly placed the wet cloth on her cheek, and she jerked back with a hiss of pain. "Let me help you." He asked pleadingly. She nodded slowly and leaned forward to let him look at her. Tigress found that he was one of a few still left that she trusted implicitly. There were very few allies in this palace. She couldn't turn Kai down. Not after all the years they had spent together.

"Did they hurt you?" She asked him. He shook his head, but his ears flattened.

"They won't touch me, at least I don't think they will. I guess I'm too valuable to them. " He paused a moment. "What do you think will happen when I come of age?"

She frowned. "I don't know, Kai." Tigress did know, though. As soon as he was old enough, she would probably be killed. He was her lifeline, and he turned sixteen in just under a year. She wouldn't trouble him with that, though. It wasn't his burden to bear. She only hoped he would remain safe.

She froze when his paws found the buttons of her shirt and grabbed his paw roughly. "Let me look." He insisted. She hesitated a moment, and then dropped her paw. Of course, she had bindings on, but she didn't want what he saw to make him feel bad. "Oh my god." He muttered. Her entire torso was one massive bruise.

"Kai, don't." She stood suddenly and grabbed a new shirt from her dresser.

"Is this because of me?" He asked, watching her grab her silk robe from the chair near the bed. She turned abruptly and came back over to him.

"Kai, no." She cupped his chin with a paw. "This is bad men doing bad things." She gazed at him imploringly, willing him to understand. He nodded slowly. "I will do everything I can to keep you safe, you understand?"

There were footsteps in the hallway. She dropped her paw and looked at the door warily. She had only been back in her room a couple hours at most. Had they already come to hurt her again?

"Can I ask you something?" He whispered, urgency flooding his voice as the footsteps neared her door.

She lowered her voice. "Anything."

"Who were you before this entire thing started?" The younger tiger watched her with curious eyes. Except for his dark eyes, he looked very much like she did when she was that age.

"That is a story for another time." She said, just as the door swung open.

Crane had never been more thankful that he could fly until he saw it, a faint light illuminating the dark mountain in the east. If he could see it, the band of soldiers he had been watching could definitely see it, too.

He felt himself being torn in two different directions. Should he head back and tell Mei Ling that he found something, or should he head towards the mountain and try to convince the animals there to move along?

He decisively cut slightly to the right and allowed the breeze to take him to the lights. Of course, he knew exactly where he was. The Jade Palace was hard to miss.

As he grew nearer to the top of the thousand steps, he could see a single light coming from the room above the training hall. "Whoever this is, they sure have found their way around." He mumbled to himself, dropping into the courtyard silently. He ruffled his feathers and made his way into the training hall.

He hesitated at the top of the stairs, not sure he wanted to know who was there. If it was a wolf, he was screwed.

"Screw it." He kicked open the door so hard that it flew off the hinges and broke into pieces that clattered to the ground. "Who are you?" His voice was harsh, and he instantly regretted it when he saw who it was.

The young fox had startled so bad that she sent her bowl flying. The floor around her was covered in shards of pottery and broth. She sat there shivering and her blue eyes were wide. The white fur along her spine had raised.

"You-you-you're-" She stuttered, but she couldn't get the words out. Something behind him caught her attention. He made to see what it was, but he felt a sharp crack across the back of his head.

"Master Crane!" He knew that voice. "We do NOT terrify innocent foxes."

"Master Shifu!" Crane whipped around, only to be hit a second time. His hat fell to the ground, and he felt lightly irritated. He grabbed it and dusted it off with a grimace. "What kind of welcome was that?!" He exclaimed.

Shifu stood back, what could only be described as a smug grin plastered across his face. "You should apologize to the young girl."

Yù just sat there, looking dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry." He said genuinely, turning back to her. He bowed rather gracefully. "And your name is?"

"Yù." She stammered.

"Crane." He smiled at her, and watched her ease up a bit. "What are you doing here?" He looked back to his master. "What are you doing here? Everyone thought you were dead."

"I came back to meet with Monkey and Viper. Have you heard from them?" Shifu looked at him eagerly.

"No," Crane grew somber, "but there's far more to the story than what I can tell you here." He thought a moment. "You need to get out of the valley. I was tracking a pack of wolves. If I found you, I'm sure they will soon."

"Where can we go?" Yù asked, getting to her feet.

"I will lead you to Dai Lee from the air. We can talk more there." He adjusted his hat and descended the stairs, leaving the red panda and fox alone.

"Come on." Said the old man. "I guess we'd better be getting out of here."

She couldn't help but agree.

"Master?" The Ox behind her had approached so quietly that it startled her. She raised her head and turned to him.

"Yes?"

"Some of our spies just returned from the Valley of Peace. Crane was there." He watched her eyes go wide, and her mouth hang open in surprise. "He seems to be headed for Dai Lee."

She thought for a moment. "How fast can this camp be packed up?"

"A matter of hours, ma'am." He replied stiffly.

"Good." She smiled. "Let's go join the party."

A/N: Muahahahahaha

-Boomie out