Shifu and Tigress were both seated on the floor of Shifu's bedroom. Shifu was stricken with shock, as he carefully examined her paws. He saw new cuts and countless old scars that appeared to be from the same thing. He shook himself out of his mind and grabbed medical herbs, bandages, and a washcloth. "Tigress, I really need to clean those, they're going to get infected if I don't." Tigress looked up from the floor, she'd been lost in her thoughts this whole time. She nodded, not meeting her master's eyes. Shifu carefully poured the herbs onto the washcloth and started wiping her paws down. He'd expected to hear her yelp, whimper, or at the very least tense up. She remained completely silent and stoic. He glanced up at her concernedly but didn't stop.

She continued to avoid his gaze but replied, "I can't feel it." Shifu paused in wrapping up her left paw and asked "What are you talking about?" He raised an eyebrow, not quite getting it. "I can't feel anything in my paws. I haven't in a long time." Tigress whimpered, slowly pulling away from him. Shifu had finished bandaging her up at that point and instinctively pulled her toward him. "TIGRESS, WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOURSELF?" He yelled, he was filled with anger and sadness, but the sorrow was consuming him. He took a deep breath and repeated himself, this time a bit calmer. "What did you do?" He repeated. She did nothing but glance away and blinked furiously to not convey her emotions.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" She shrieked. "I trained on the ironwood trees for 20 years! I just wanted to be stronger!" She cried. Tigress twisted out of his grip and stood up, she tried to run away but he was quicker and blocked her path. "Why did you do this?" He protested. "What was possibly so terrible that you did THAT?" He said. Now that got her attention. "You want to know why?" She growled, stomping her foot, and yelled, "BECAUSE OF YOU!" "You never treated me like YOUR child, it was always Tai Lung this and Tai Lung that! I wanted to have that same love as he received from you! I was always just another student to you, wasn't I? I was never good enough, never enough at all." Tigress snarled, breathing deeply as she suddenly was filled with anxiety.

"I did that...didn't I?" Shifu exhaled, the realization in her actions hitting him tenfold. "You took me in, but you were so distant and pain-filled that it didn't feel like it. I didn't want to feel anything anymore!"
Shifu was dumbstruck, "I-I'm so sorry Tigress. I didn't know." "YOU NEVER KNOW! THAT'S ALWAYS YOUR EXCUSE!" She yelled. Her shoulders slumped and everything felt heavy, she was out of anger and just felt empty. "I just wanted your love" She sniffled, rubbing furiously at her eyes with her bandaged hands. She fell on her knees hard and started sobbing, with her arm covering her teary eyes.
Meanwhile, Shifu was having lots of conflicting thoughts. Did he mess up another child?
As he stared down at Tigress having a breakdown, one thing became very clear to him. He reached out to her, deciding to change everything.
She was HIS child.

All of a sudden Tigress felt arms around her and a hand scratching her behind her ear. "I know sorry will never make up for the years of neglect I put you through, but I am so very sorry, my daughter" He apologized. Her eyes went wide and she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "That's a bit too TIGHT tigress!" He gasped. "Oh, sorry!" She released him and chuckled. "We have a lot to talk about, but maybe it should wait for tomorrow," he said, watching her yawn. "Okay…" She mumbled sleepily. She got up and moved to leave for her room. "Goodnight baba!" she giggled, "Can I address you as baba now?" she begged. "I don't see why not" Shifu chuckled. "Now, go get some sleep please." As he heard Tigress bound down the hallway, he sighed and slouched down. He was not going to sleep tonight.