Little rant before we begin, there's this guest (who also seems to be going by the user name of "Jason valentine") who's been spamming the reviews telling me to have Shredder somehow escape the Spirit Realm at the end of the story so he can plan to get revenge on the Turtles, Po, and the Five and have Splinter somehow come back to life at the end of the story, as well as this person telling me that Leo should be paired up with Tigress or that Raph should be paired up with Tigress and Mikey should be paired up with Viper in the next story and it's been really annoying me to no end. So to that guest if you're reading this, while I appreciate the support on these stories, no, none of that's happening. Because one, bringing Splinter and Shredder back to life would just undermine their deaths in season 4. And two, it would make no sense story wise since the point of killing both Splinter and Shredder off in season 4 was so that the Turtles could come into their own without them, and bringing them back would undermine the character growth each of the Turtles go through afterwards so don't count on it happening. (And don't try to say, "Oh, but Shredder came back to life in season 5 and that worked." Or, "But Splinter came back as a ghost to give them advice." The only reason that worked was because Shredder was a zombie, a puppet of Kavaxas, and not the main villain. And the only reason Splinter coming back as a ghost worked was because he did it rarely, because the Turtles had to figure out how to handle world-ending situations without his help and stand on their own without him.) And no, I'm not shipping any of the TMNT characters with any of the Kung Fu Panda characters, for one, Tigress is already being paired with Po, Leo is already paired up with Karai, Raph is already paired up with Mona Lisa, and Mikey is already paired up with both Renet and Shinigami, so don't expect Leo x Tigress or Raph x Tigress or Mikey x Viper to ever happen and please stop spamming the reviews.

With that said, let's get started.

Chapter 15: Kung Fu Training

Po stood in front of all the gathered pandas in the center of the village while Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Tigress stood by.

"You guys, your strength comes from being the best you you can be." Po stated encouragingly. "So who are you? What are you good at? What do you love? What makes you… well, you?"

As each of the panda villagers discussed their passions and what made them who they were, Tigress and the Turtles couldn't help but exchange unsure or downright skeptical glances.

"Are we really sure this is gonna work?" Raph questioned.

Donnie placed a hand under his chin. "Well, given this was how we and Shifu trained Po, I suppose it has to work."

Tigress, placing her paws on her hips. "If this was before I met Po, I would say trusting our faith in him to train all of these pandas in ways that would usually be unorthodox seems like a bad idea."

"Yeah." Leo agreed. "But, let's face it, it's the best bad idea we've had all day."

"Well then, let's do it!" Mikey grinned.


Po watched as Nu Hai, Bao, Jing, and Fan Tong practiced rallying with their hacky sack while Tigress and the Turtles watched from behind him.

"Yes, good." He told them. "Remember to keep your balance. Just keep doing what you're doing."


Later on, Po, Tigress, and the Turtles watched as several panda villagers rolled down the hill towards them with practiced ease.

"Good, again." Po told them.


During the evening, Po, Leo, Tigress, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey watched Big Fun a large log tightly.

"Good, good, good. Again!" Po exclaimed.

"This is definitely quite unorthodox." Tigress spoke up, to which Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey all collectively nodded in agreement. "But… if it works, I suppose it works."

"Stripey baby!" They then heard, forcing them to look down and see Lei Lei wadling over to Tigress with a happy smile. "Stripey baby!"

Tigress slowly backed away uneasily as Lei Lei approached her, much to Po and the Turtles' collective amusements.


Later that day, Po, Leo, Tigress, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey watched as Mei Mei twirled her ribbon expertly as she spun around.

"Faster, faster! Roll those ribbons." Po said encouragingly.


Po, Leo, Tigress, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey were now gathered around Big Fun as he hugged the log again. And this time, even Tigress and the Turtles were getting in on the whole teacher role.

"Hug that log! Hug that log like it's the last time you're ever gonna hug it!" Raph encouraged despite how silly it sounded.

Big Fun headed his words, hugging the log so tightly that it easily snapped in half.

"Yeah! Up top, big man!" Raph congratulated the panda, raising his hand up, only to get caught in one of Big Fun's affectionately tight hugs.

"Okay, now try this." Raph said once Big Fun released him, bringing the large panda a huge rock.

"Higher, a little more to the left this time." Donnie said, helping the pandas adjust the hammock launcher. "and… release!"

The pandas holding the hammock nodded and released it, sending a panda flying high into the air.

"Okay, now, I don't want to see any of these touch the ground." Leo told a group of panda cubs, holding up a bowl of dumplings in front of them which the panda eagerly salivated at. "And no eating them, either."

Leo then tossed the dumplings into the air, each of the kids catching the dumplings with their feet and keeping them off the ground.

"Good." Leo congratulated them before handing a bunch of lit firecrackers. "Now try it with these."

Li Shan helped whittling some bamboo wood for bo staffs while Mr. Ping fed each of the baby pandas some soup to keep them happy.

Tigress, meanwhile, had taken it upon herself to at least teach the pandas some basics, having them all lined up and teaching them how to punch and how to kick. The pandas followed her accordingly as Tigress went through each of them, helping them correct their stances and encouraging them whenever they messed up. Though she did stop to acknowledge Lei Lei as the panda cub clung to her leg like a teddy bear.

Mikey watched as Mei Mei twirled her ribbon before flipping into the air and landing in front of him with a smirk.

"Nice moves, Mei Mei." Mikey complimented her.

"Thank you, Mikey." Mei Mei smirked.

"Now try it with these!" Mikey said, handing her a pair of nunchucks (not one of his, mind you).

Hesitantly, Mei Mei took the nunchucks and twirled them around experimentally. She ended up spinning them too fast as they were flung into the air… and hit Grandma Panda on the head and knocked her unconscious.

Mei Mei quickly handed Mikey back the nunchucks as she quietly shuffled away.


Later in the evening, Po stood out on the boardwalk, holding out a board as each of the pandas lined up.

Bao juggled a dumpling on his foot before kicking it at the board hard enough to break it in half and hit Po in the face.

Big Fun was next as he bearhugged Po, sandwiching the board between them snapping it into splinters.

Finally, Grandma Panda was next as Po held up another wooden board… only for Grandma Panda to kick Po in the groin, making him fall to the ground in pain.


The evening sun was slowly descending over the horizon as Po, the Turtles, and Tigress observed the pandas below as they continued to 'train'.

"They are ready." Po said determinedly.

Tigress, Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey all nodded in agreement.


At the center of the village Po, Tigress, and the Turtles had gathered all of the pandas around the table with a giant map of the village.

"Okay, pay attention 'cause I'm only gonna go over this ten more times." Po said, gesturing to the map with a bamboo stick. "The only entrance to the village is here." He pointed to the part with the village gates on the map. He then used the stick to move a set of dumplings and cookies to two different parts of the village. "The dumpling squadron will take position here, while the cookie squadron will take position here. Now, on my signal the three squadrons will-"

Po trailed off as he heard the sounds of chewing. He looked down to see several panda cubs had eaten all the dumplings and cookies, earning a laugh out of all the pandas.

"Right, okay," Po chuckled, also finding amusement in this, "the noodle squadron will-"

He was cut off again when he saw a panda cub slurping up all the noodles that were supposed to represent the noodle squadron on the map.

"Alright, okay." Po said while everyone else laughed. "Anyway, the important thing to remember is that this is the spot where-"

Po was cut off again as the same panda cub now ate half of his bamboo stick.

"Okay, I should have seen that coming." Po muttered with a small chuckle while everyone else laughed again.

Raph slapped his forehead with his palm. "Can you pandas not eat everything you can get your hands on for ten seconds?" He grumbled.

Po tossed the bamboo stick away as the crowd settled down. "If you only remember one thing, it's to distract the jombies until I get close enough to put the Wuxi Finger Hold on Kai. You got it?"

All of the pandas cheered as they, along with the Turtles, began to move out towards their battle positions.

As they all left, Po stayed behind, taking out the scroll and unrolling it. For a long moment, he stared at the picture of Oogway battling Kai, pondering what it could mean when he noticed Li Shan gazing at the scroll as well, specifically at the part depicting the pandas healing Oogway through the power of chi.

"I… I wish I could have taught you this, son." Li Shan said remorsefully.

Po gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, dad." He said. "You just go get ready, okay?"

Li Shan nodded as he headed out with the other pandas, leaving Po alone.

Or so Po thought as he heard the sounds of giggling and the pouring of water, forcing him to look over and see Tigress having what looked like a tea party with Lei Lei and she even seemed to be enjoying herself.

A small smile gracing his lips, Po walked over to them as Lei Lei poured Tigress a cup of tea. "Hey, Tigress." He greeted her.

Tigress looked up at the panda, a bit surprised by his presence. "Oh, hello, Po." She replied.

"You, uh, mind if I join you?" Po asked.

Tigress was silent for a moment before she nodded, to which Po plopped down next to them.

Lei Lei walked over to sit next to Tigress, the feline in response gently picked up the cub and cradled her by placing her in her lap. Lei Lei giggled as she held the Tigress action figure in her paws.

"You really like that action figure, don't you?" Tigress asked with a fond smile.

Lei Lei nodded. "Stripey baby, beautiful." She said innocently. "Big stripey baby more beautiful."

Tigress perked up, her eyes widening and her cheeks heating up in a light blush. "You… you think I'm beautiful?" She asked, sounding flattered.

Lei Lei nodded happily. "Big stripey baby very beautiful." The cub said.

Tigress smiled, softly chuckling as she fondly caressed the panda cub's head in a sort of motherly way, Lei Lei sighing at the feel of the feline's gentle touch as it slowly lulled her to sleep.

Po sat there next to them, unusually silent as he watched the little interaction between Tigress and the panda cub. The sight itself was very heartwarming to him and made him smile.

"Stripey baby… mama…" Lei Lei mumbled as she fell asleep, nuzzling into Tigress' chest.

Po and Tigress gazed at the cub in surprise when they heard that. Tigress felt heart melt as those words. The fact that just after a few minutes of holding her, the young cub saw her as such a motherly figure caused a warm feeling in her chest that she had not felt before.

"She… She's not wrong, you know." Po spoke up softly, getting Tigress' attention as she looked at him. Po lightly scooted closer to the feline, gently placing his paw on hers, causing them both to blush as they gazed at each other. "You really are beautiful."

Tigress' eyes widened as her cheeks darkened at Po's kind words.

She then looked away, still blushing as she chuckled. "I've really gone soft, haven't I?" She asked amusedly.

Po chuckled, still softly keeping his paw on hers. "You're still you, Tigress. This is just… you showing another part of yourself."

The two were silent as they stared into each other's eyes, jade meeting amber, for a long moment. Slowly, they began to lean their heads towards each other, parting their lips as their eyes began to close, their breaths brushing each other's lips, they were so close…

… but were interrupted by the sounds of metal clashing.

Po and Tigress pulled away from their almost-kiss, looking up as the sky began to darken with a mysterious jade light.

"He's here." Tigress said, recognizing the sounds and the signs in the sky.

"Po, come on." Leo said, running out from the crowd of pandas and gesturing for Po to follow him.

Po got up, about to follow the blue clad turtle when Tigress suddenly grabbed his arm. "Po!" She exclaimed.

Po came to a stop, turning his head back and giving the feline a questioning look.

Tigress' expression softened as she held Lei Lei in her other arm. "Please... be careful." She said worriedly.

Po smiled softly. "I will, I promise." He said before he suddenly kissed her cheek and ran off after Leo, leaving a stunned but flustered Tigress alone with a big weight in her heart.