Author's Note: Hey there. Apologies for not posting for a while I've been in... a pretty dark place for a while. (Extremely personal stuff I'd prefer not to talk about) Just going to say now, I'm in a better spot now and have found the spark once more. This is yet another part of these one-shots that I've had planned for a while and I'm quite happy with how its come out. Surprisingly enough, this has a song for it too. Nirvana - Something in the way. Now it is not just because I watched The Batman last month (Holy crap it was so awesome!) but it is also because of its mellow, haunting feeling just gelling well with this story for some reason. I'd recommend listening as your reading. Anyway, let's get this one-shot cracking.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN KFP (go on sue me, I dare you... Just kidding, please don't)

Enjoy.

A Familiar longing

One often finds themselves looking upon history for a taste of what is truly missing in themselves, though none do this more than a certain tiger warrior.

A carpet of scriptures lines the jade floor of the Palace archives, their wealth of knowledge littered across the place as if they are a child's plaything. Their empty slots in the towering shelves stare down at the parchments with a scathing impatience, desperately wishing to know how long it will take for them to return to their rightful place. This question is almost immediately answered by a black and orange paw shooting towards another scroll. Guess they will have to wait a bit longer.

Amber irises scan the contents of the scroll at a rapid pace only to see another complex assortment of punches and kicks. Making a mental note to look back at this technique for another time, Tigress haphazardly chucks the scroll with the rest of them as she continues her search. For the past ten minutes the tiger master had been sifting through scroll after scroll in a hasty attempt to find a specific one. A task that wouldn't have been anywhere near as aggravating if a certain langur comrade didn't have the bright idea of shuffling all of the thousand scrolls in a completely random order to get a rise out of Shifu.

Regardless of this, Tigress continues looking through more and more parchments, hoping to find a solution to her problem. If only they had different casing, then she wouldn't have to check them one by one. Unfurling yet another scroll about particular herbal remedies, an impatient sigh escapes the tiger warrior. Medicine wasn't going to help with this. Not with what has been plaguing the mind of her closest friend.

It had only been two weeks since the events of Gongmen city. Two weeks of recovery both physical and emotional. Whilst most of her comrades had managed to do away with the occasional nightmares caused by that insipid peacock, Po's heart had sunk into the depths of despair though he had hoped to never show it to her or anyone else. His eyes could never hide how sleepless he was, nor could he fabricate the joy in his smile. Deep down he was drowning in a sea that Tigress could recognise at first sight.

As she thinks back to those deflated jade eyes that used to be filled with such undeniable hope, the tiger master pushes herself further in her quest to retrieve this one singular scroll. Just as she is about to pull down one parchment from the shelf, the scroll next to it slips out and falls towards its brethren awaiting bellow. Before it can reach its destination however, Tigress shoots her paw out to catch it. Within mere moments, she cracks the seal open and unfurls the scroll, amber flames lighting up in her eyes as they gaze on what lies inside.

Various illustrations of pandas both big and small, young and old litter the scroll as a river of scripture flows down the right side of the parchment, detailing their culture. A smile begins to crawl onto her face as her eyes shift themselves back and forth between the images and their accompanying descriptions. So many different kinds of pandas, all the possibilities of more being out there. Perfect. Just what Po needs.

Tigress gently rolls the scroll back up and tucks it into her waistband before looking back towards the scroll she was about to pull out of the shelf, noticing something peculiar. Something that she had previously glossed over in her hurried search. Claw marks, light but evident. An orange and black paw shoots out towards the softly scarred casing, recognition kindled in the tiger's eyes as she cracks open the scrolls seal and unfurls the parchment as if it is a priceless artefact.

Amber flames reignite at the black and orange tapestries lining the page. Tigers adorned in armour; brandishing weapons of all sorts pose proudly as if they know of the people curious about their history. These images have been all but memorised in Tigress' mind, serving as lifeless companions rather than purveyors of knowledge. So many nights of study turned to staring contests with a family that she never knew if she would ever get a chance to see. So many nights of wondering how many tigers there really are out there. So many nights of longing to be with them only to be answered with a haunting silence. She recalls the turmoil that had wreaked her heart for so long, the anger and despair drowning her soul. These companions of hers had brought her out of that darkness, the hope of one day being reunited with her kind banishing the haunting silence that would always invade the room.

Delicately caressing the illustrations with her thumb, Tigress begrudgingly rolls up the scroll, silently wishing she could stare and imagine a life being with her kind. But she holds these yearning thoughts back as she puts the scroll back in its seal and walks out of the palace archives, knowing that Po needs this much more than she does. After what he had found out in Gongmen, after knowing what Shen did to his kind, she needs to help him find this hope, to expel this despair of never knowing what the other pandas were like. Because she knows just how it feels to feel out of place, to never see anyone like yourself and wonder if you truly are alone.

She knows how it feels to suffer from this familiar longing.

I had a few different ideas for this one, but decided that this would probably be best since this is a topic that I love to explore. That period when Po thought he was the only panda left. Just thinking about it made me wonder how he had coped with thinking this, and then it made me wonder how Tigress had managed to cope with a thought like this for so long. Felt like quite an interesting way to go about it. Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed this story and until next time :)