Disclaimer : I do not own Kung Fu Panda

Chapter 41 : A Confused Heart

Tigress burst into her makeshift strategy room in a tent with mixed feelings raging in her head. She walked directly towards the center of the room, where a round table with a map of China on it was placed. Right now, there was no one in this room, just like what she needed. She didn't wish the emperor nor did another soldiers watch her in this chaotic state.

Po has died.

The words spoken by Shifu kept haunting her head.

Po has died

Po has died

Po has died

She pulled out her sword and stuck it into the map, ripping it into two sheet out of frustation.

"Get out of my head!" She scremed to herself.

Her eyes reddened for anger and restlessness. Her body cried for a sleep but she disregarded it.

An image of Po in blood crossed her mind. She put her paws on the table and squeezed her eyes shut.

'Tigress, I'm happy to see you again', was what Po said to her the first time they met again after she fled from this valley.

But Po's voices kept echoing in her ears.

'I just want to talk with her!'

'We're not supposed to fight each other.'

'Tigress ...I won't fight you back. This is not right. We're buddies.'

The tiger covered her ears uneasily. Why wouldn't Po just leave her alone?!

.

.

Why was it Po to be dead?

.

"You killed him."

"You killed The Dragon Warrior, Tigress."

.

But that's my destiny and his destiny to fight each other. One of us shall be dead, that's written in our fate.

He killed the empress.

I just tried to avenge my adoptive mother's death.

And I just did.

.

"Then shouldn't you be happy right now?"

"The Dragon Warrior deserved to be dead."

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Silence!

.

.

.

A transparent figure appeared out of nowhere all of a sudden before her. She could feel her mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish in shock as she recognized that figure as Po.

'Why, Tigress?' that image spoke to her, voice echoing throughout the room. 'Why did you kill me?'

Fear crept over Tigress as she gripped her sword tightly. She stepped back. No! This is just an imagination. This is not real.

'Why, Tigress? Why?'

"Shut up!"

'I didn't want to hurt you. I am your friend, but you killed me.'

"I said shut up!" she yelled hysterically.

She inhaled deeply, trying to sooth herself but she could hear how quickly her heart was beating.

Calm down, Tigress. Calm down ...

She tilted her head again. That ghost was no longer there.

Great! She was hallucinating. Has she turned mad?

.

This destiny was really a curse.

.

She turned her gaze downward towards her shaking hands. The said hands that had killed two souls. One was someone from The Great Valley and the other one was ...Po. A blood stain was spotted on her claws. It was Po's blood, still smelled clearly.

Without her realizing it, tears began to flowing down her cheeks.

'I'm sorry, Po. But it had to be this way'.

She clenched her fist indignantly.

'Why didn't you fight back? Why?!'

'Why did us get destinied to fight each other?'

She herself had no idea who she was angry with. Herself? or Po? Honestly, as the time she saw Po in the dungeon, a small feelings of her said that he was innocent, that he was the same Po she used to know. But it didn't remove the fact that he got involved with prisoners in murdering the empress. He came to save Shifu and to fight her. An illustration of Po killing her in her nightmare returned to her head and she let out her pent-up anger, grief and fear in the form of attack to that panda. Po had been destined to kill her and vice versa. Plus, she was bind to the task from the emperor to kill Shifu yet she took the risk of betraying him by trying to save that red panda. Only, Shifu made her works difficult by refusing her offer and waiting for the arrival of Po instead.

'It's not late to stop this'

What the heck was he thinking? Why was Po so stupid? She attacked him yet he's still too naive, believing that she would never hurt him. Didn't he know that if he didn't fight her, it's him to be killed.

With the fall of The Great Valley and the death of The Dragon Warrior, she felt that she had avenged her adoptive mother and completed half of her destiny as the reincarnation of Khan.

Now, what would she do next?

Ruling China didn't interest her at all. Her only objective of joining this armada was to give justice to the murderers of the empress as she was overcame by grudge and to create a peacefulness for tigers. The Great Valley had been destroyed and Po was dead. The scar in her heart started to heal but it was now replaced by a feeling of guilty.

'Once you joined this armada, there's no coming back.'

That was what the emperor told her as she first decided to join in his army.

And he was right. She couldn't return to what she used to be. She was a murderer. A monster. There's no place for a sinful creature like her in this world, unless if she created one for herself. By the fall of two valleys and the death of The Dragon Warrior within no more than a day, then there was no more obstacle for her people to gain their glorious back.

And it meant, she wasn't needed anymore.

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~TLoTDaTT~

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Yuan Sheng froze in his place with a look of disbelief in his eyes as he gazed someone before him. How did that old tiger get in here?

"Fang Zi?" he whispered. "How did you-"

The seer smiled. "I've been following you, Your Majesty." she walked limply with her walking stick. "I just thought you might need a company."

"Wait a second! You've been following me all the time?!" Yuan Sheng asked. He wondered why he and the warriors didn't detect nor did they even smell the faintest scent of her appearance during their journey here. "Then why didn't you do anything when The Dragon Warrior kidnapped me?!"

"I knew they wouldn't hurt you," she replied without removing her smile. "Beside, I am just a seer. An old lady like me wouldn't stand a chance against five legendary warriors of China."

"They could've killed me, you know."

"But they didn't."

Yuan Sheng grunted, he admitted it that she was right. In fact, The Dragon Warrior protected him when one of his comrades had an intent of killing him back in the palace. Despite of being annoying, he was kind of nice towards him, attempting to befriend him when they're crossing Chojiang River.

The prince breathed deeply. He sat down on a rock.

There was a few seconds of silence between them. As a seer, Fang Zi could read what's inside the young lord's mind.

"Fang Zi," Yuan Sheng called her in a low tone without looking at the wise tiger. "What should I do now?" he asked desperately. "My father was the one who killed my mother. Tigress is in danger. And I am not a prince anymore."

"It seems like you just found out the truth." Fang Zi mumbled.

Yuan Sheng stared at Fang Zi in shock. "You mean ... don't tell me you already -"

"-knew the answer? Yes. I already knew that the death of the empress was an inside job. No escaped prisoners would return to the palace only to kill the empress. Your mother murmured something to me before she exhaled her last breath," she explained.

The prince shook the seer's shoulder, his face only an inch away from the older tigress'. "What did she tell you?!"

"Dagger. Fang," she mentioned those words in a serious tone. "She talked about the dagger made of your ancestor's fang, kept by your father."

"And you didn't tell me about it earlier?! Why?!" The prince sounded angry, letting off his grip from Fang Zi.

"The emperor would kill you if he knew you knew who the real murderers were. I didn't tell Tigress for the same reason."

Yuan Sheng chuckled irritably, recalling the moment his father aiming his sword towards him right in the face. "You're right! He almost killed me. Seriously, Is he really a father?! That insane old man!"

"You should be grateful for being still alive," Fang Zi muttered. She poked the prince in the arms with her stick. "At least, make yourself useful and save Tigress."

"I've been thinking of it," he replied. "Luckily, you're here now. You can help me, can't you?"

"Sure. But I alone is not enough," she said. "You know there's someone else that more suitable to be asked for help, right? The one who has wilingly traveled a long journey only to find Tigress."

"You're talking about Dragon Warrior?"

Fang Zi nodded.

"The Dragon Warrior and his fellow kung fu masters?"

A nod again.

"I have to ask him?"

Fang Zi let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Yes."

"So, you're telling me to search for the ones who has just kidnapped me and beg them for help to fight my father and save Tigress?! Is that what you mean?! No way!"

"You and I know that only The Dragon Warrior would do anything to save his friend."

"You forgot one crucial fact, Fang Zi;" Yuan Sheng reminded her. "Tigress and The Dragon Warrior are destined to be enemy. They're supposed to kill each other. That's their fate."

"But fate can be changed," the old tigress retorted. "They're not mere puppets controlled by a string called destiny. They are what they are; not Long, not Khan. Fate cannot be changed unless they decided to follow it. Now it depends on you; do you want The Dragon Warrior to save Tigress or not."

Yuan Sheng's expression slowly softening. Sure, he couldn't let Tigress be killed by his father. But ...asking for The Dragon Warrior's help? Is there another way?

"I just don't want her to be victim of my father's scheme." He finally said after few minutes of consideration.

"Then swallow your pride and we're going to search for The Dragon Warrior." Her voice was soft but commanding. "I saw where he and his comrades headed to when they escaped from the palace."

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~TLoTDaTT~

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Master Ox and Master Croc were training in the palace courtyard when an atelope guard came in hurriedly as he brought a scroll with him.

"Master Ox! Master Croc! An urgent letter from the Jade Palace."

"The Jade Palace?" the two protectors of Gongmen City blinked. It was a place where Dragon Warrior and Master Shifu lived. They stopped their training as the antelope passed the scroll to Master Croc. The two masters read it together with their raised eyebrows.

"This is emergency!" Master Ox exclaimed. "We have to get reinforcement and leave for The Valley of Peace today!"