A/N: Hey you, yeah you.
Enjoy, you sexy beast ;)
She felt...numb. Not like in-sadness-and-alone numb. It was more along the lines of covered-in-blood-and-in-pain numb.
She had been moved out of that bloody room and now sat in a chair somewhere. Her arms were crossed across her chest. Her leg throbbed, and her head hurt for some reason or another. The bedroom around her was clean and smelled like fruit. The smell made her both nauseous and hungry, and that's when she realized she was shaking.
"Hey." Her head lifted slowly as Po came around the back of her chair. He held a bowl filled with water and a cloth.
"Hi." She replied quietly.
He sat on the bed facing her and gingerly set the bowl of water on the nightstand.
"How are you?" He asked. She shrugged. He took the damp cloth and slowly pried her arms from her chest. Seeing the blood that was caked to her fingers made her feel lightheaded.
"What happened to him?" He paused in his work. "The assassin." She clarified.
"He fell two stories off a building, Ti. He's dead." She nodded, glad that she hasn't missed with that vase.
"Good." She replied. He paused once more. "If he were alive, I probably would have killed him myself."
The harshness of her voice made him look at her with worry in his emerald eyes. She didn't mean it the way it had come out. "Buddha knows I can't control my temper." She chuckled lightly and when he realized she was joking, he continued.
Once he had finished, he looked at her for a moment. "You're in pain." He stated simply. It wasn't so much a question as a disapproving sentence.
"I'm fine, Po." She replied dismissively.
"Ti," his voice was a warning,"you can pull that crap with everyone else but not with me." She startled at his tone and the way his piercing green eyes bore into hers.
He stood, shaking his head, and grabbed the bowl, making to leave.
"Po." She called. He stopped. "Can you see if they have anything for my leg?"
"Of course." He replied, softer this time.
As if seemingly broken from a spell, she stood from the chair slowly and looked around. Someone had left clean clothes for her, so she changed gratefully. Her braid had fallen who knows how long ago, and several strands of long hair rested on her back. She quickly re-braided it and took a deep breath. She glanced up at the knock at her door.
Po peeked his head through to make sure she was dressed.
"I'm sorry Ti, but you need to come see this."
They practically collided sliding into the grand hall, but Po's urgency drove them to run across the castle like crazy people.
"Master Shifu, what's-" She stopped, surprised. "Crane?"
The spindly master stood in the throne room beside Shifu and Viper. He was winded, breathing deeply. He looked exhausted.
"Hey Ti." He shrugged.
"Master, what's going on?" She turned to look at Shifu. He gestured for Crane to explain.
"Master Wolfe sent us a scroll soon after you all left Gongmen. He asked us to keep an eye on things in Xiongxang. I offered to go." Crane explained, but it didn't ease the crease in his adopted sister's forehead. "The Mongolian army has massed just over the border."
"Oh my god." She muttered under her breath.
"So what do we do?" Po asked incredulously. He looked to shifu pleadingly.
"Emperor has already begun to mobilize his troops. Several of the Gongmen masters are on their way." Shifu replied.
"Monkey and Mantis are on their way as well. The royal guards will remain to protect the valley." Crane finished.
"So we fight?" Ti asked softly.
"Yes, it seems so." Shifu murmured.
"But wait," Po interrupted, "there's still one more thing I don't get. Why did Xue put that investment in her brother's name?"
"Po, that doesn't really ma-" Ti was cut off by Viper.
"The money." The room went quiet. "Po, every military men has a kind of," she thought for the right word,"account. They leave it open to any financial income so that, if they die, their loved ones are taken care of."
"So, she invests the money in his name so profits go into his account, and then when she becomes a certain age or something, she gets the money?" Crane asked with a frown.
"I guess. We don't know much about her, except for the fact that she was originally Chinese." Viper shrugged.
"Wait," Tigress spoke up, "Tao Nai." She said. The others looked at her in confusion. "Before he died, Ni Chang said something about Tao Nai. I thought it was gibberish, but I just realized what he meant."
"Tao Nai? The orphanage?" Shifu frowned.
She nodded. "I used to hear the name all the time and it never dawned on me. If Xue and her brother were in Tao Nai, that explains why they were separated. Usually male orphans who don't make it out of the orphanage are given to the military. She must have been adopted and he was sent to the Imperial city."
"Tao Nai is up near Xiongxang, correct? It makes sense she would go to Mongolia from there." Viper finished.
"So, let's kill two birds with one stone." Po piped up. The others glanced at him with confusion plastered on their faces. "If we stay here in the city, thousands of people will suffer. However, if we move to Xiongxang, we won't have that risk. We can hit Tao Nai on the way there."
"He has a point, Master." Crane said quietly. "If Xue is found guilty of any of these crimes she has commited, her generals are required to give her up to law. That's both a Mongolian and a Chinese code of could cut her off before she even makes it over the border."
Shifu thought on it for a moment. "I agree. So, here it what we will do. I will go speak with the Emperor and see if he approves. For now, you all need to rest. None of us have had a decent night's sleep since this all began. If all goes according to plan, we can leave at nightfall."
They all gave a nod and began to go their separate ways. "Po," the others were to far gone, but Ti hadn't quite left yet," Well done. You are beginning to think very critically."
"Thanks Master." The unmistakable puff of Po's chest made Tigress chuckle a bit. He was such a child and yet, so intelligent. She shook her head. Po finally took notice of her standing there and ran to her. "Did you hear that?" He whispered excitedly.
"I did. Well done." She kissed his cheek and the two made their way to their beds.
N/A: Awwwwww! Surprise, Surprise, no cliffhanger! I decided to take a break with those for this chapter. I ended it on a semi-fluffy note instead.
Also, I totally came up with the whole "military account" and "orphanage" custom. Those were simply created for the benefit of this story. I just don't want anybody getting mad.
Loves to all!