When Truth Comes

"Why are you so nervous, Po," I asked the shaking panda. "It's only push-ups."

"That's not why I'm nervous," Po grunted as he did another push-up. I made him stop.

"Then why are you so nervous." Po was quiet for a while.

"Well, you know the Emperor and Empress are coming to the Jade Palace with the Demon Fighter, Leo, right?" I nodded. "And you know how Leo knows some things about Tigress's past and family, right?"

"Po, will you just get to the point," I said.

"What if," Po paused, "What if Tigress wants to leave us to see her family? I know we don't have any right to stop her from doing so, but..." He stopped mid-sentence. I guessed it would be for the better.

"You're afraid of her leaving forever," I asked. He nodded.

"I know I shouldn't be and I know I shouldn't get in her way of finding out her past. I know that I wouldn't want anyone getting in the way of finding my true family," Po said. Ah, so I was in the era BEFORE Kung Fu Panda 3. "I just...I'm just worried of never seeing her again."

"Why?" I asked. Po looked at me. "No, I'm not questioning any feelings or emotions. I just want to know the real reason." Po was silent for a while.

"I don't want her to go," Po said quietly.

"I won't," Tigress said from behind us. I spun around to see the female tiger standing there with her arms crossed, but she had a gentle smile on her face. Po glared at me.

"I thought you could sense people," He remarked.

"Oh hush! I was busy talking to you," I shot back. Before Po could blame me again, Tigress approached him.

"Don't worry Po," She assured him, "No matter what this Leo says, I will not leave the Jade Palace. This is my home." I did a little laugh. "What," Tigress glared at me.

"Nothing, I didn't think you could be sentimental. I don't mean to tease, but it's surprising," I replied. Then I something hit me. "Zeng's coming," I said.

"Oh, now you can sense people," Po remarked. I playfully stuck my tongue out. The little duck came in with a smirk on his face.

"Okay, why do you have that look on you," I asked him.

"You said this Leo person was afraid of tigers," Zeng stated.

"Yes," I said. Then the idea occurred to me. "Oh!" I ran out of the Training Hall and went to the Hall of Heroes. There I could see the rest of the Furious Five, Shifu, Krystal, and Lee and Mai with Leo. The five-foot rat was bigger than I thought. Then again, a five-foot rat is bigger than many other rats. He looked approximately 5'7", about Krystal's height. Tigress, Zeng, and Po came after me. I could see Leo with another person. It was a female tiger, a bit shorter than him. I didn't realize who this was, who was standing so close to Leo. When Master Shifu saw me, he explained.

"Ah, Master Lion, it's good of you to join us. This is Emperor Lee and Empress Mai as you have met before. This is Leo the Demon Fighter and his wife, Princess Miwa." It finally dawned on me as I bowed.

"Princess Miwa," I said, "Yes, I remember you. You're the daughter of Tiger, aren't you?" Miwa was shocked.

"How did you know," she asked.

"Lady Miwa, this is Lion, the Lion Warrior," Shifu explained.

"At your service," I presented myself.

"He seems to know a lot about you guys," Monkey added.

"Well, not everything," I muttered. "Anyways, you must be Leo then." Leo bowed. "It is good to meet you. You're a lot taller than I thought you were."

"Everybody says that," Leo sighed. Tigress slowly came up from the back. Leo looked at her and jumped back. Miwa held him steady.

"I...I don't mean to scare you," Tigress slowly said.

"How come you weren't scared of Krystal," I asked.

"Honey, are you okay? You haven't been scared of tigers since you married me," Miwa mentioned. Then Leo came closer to Tigress to examine her.

"You're the spitting image of Tigra," Leo said softly.

"You mean Tigress's mother is still alive," I asked.

"Oh yes."

"Oh no!"

"I know," Leo muttered. Miwa elbowed him in the ribs.

"Why is that a bad thing," Tigress asked.

"You see, Tigress, now that Leo's here, he can back me up on a lot of things I'm about to tell you. Your father is Qiang and your mother is Tigra, right?" Leo nodded in agreement. "Now, Qiang is quiet and stern, that's where you get your...emotional control. Tigra, on the other hand, is a vicious, crazy, former assassin who has been known to cook people alive for dinner and feast on their entrails."

"My grandmother is not that vicious," Miwa protested.

"Oh really? Did she not threaten to pluck out Leo's tail, rip out his claws from their sockets, use them as writing materials, and whip him with his own tail JUST for his tail accidentally brushing against her hindquarters?" Leo nodded in agreement. "That is where Tigress gets her short temper and ferocity from." Krystal pulled me close and whispered over to me.

"What kind of writing did you do?!"

"I was having an edgy spell, okay," I explained.

"Anyways," Po interrupted, "You said, grandmother. Meaning you're a relative of Tigress." Miwa and Tigress looked at each other. There were some similarities.

"You said you were the daughter of Tiger. That means your Tigress's niece," I said. Miwa's eyes widened.

"You're my aunt? My grandmother told me she had to leave her daughter at an orphanage because of the civil war that happened in our kingdom."

"Then they kept my brother," Tigress asked.

"No, my father grew up in an orphanage too, but he helped stop the civil war, find my grandparents, and now my father's the ruler of the place," Miwa explained. I quickly told Po something. He nodded and whispered it down the line as I said,

"So, why don't Master Leo, Miwa, and Tigress go to the courtyard and talk while Lee and Mai show Po some moves. I know he's been dying to know how to do half the things you do." I could see that Mai was slightly uncomfortable with Po, but that was normal. "By the way, where is Yijiro?"

"He had to fight off some bandits at another village," Lee said. I looked to Tigress to see any reaction, but she had already left with Miwa and Leo. As Po, Mai, and Lee went away, I had the others stay before I went away.

"Why did you tell Po to tell us not to ask about Miwa's or Leo's parents," Viper asked curiously.

"After Tiger won the civil war, his wife, Miwa's mother, was killed by sympathetic rebels. Leo's parents were both killed by a tiger which is why he was afraid of tigers before. But I forgot that he was married to Miwa."

"How did they get married if he was afraid of tigers," Mantis asked.

"Love has a funny way of suppressing fears," I replied. With that, I left them. I quickly went to my journal to record the event.

"Hey," said a soft voice. I looked behind me to see Krystal in the doorway.

"Hey, I thought you would be with Tigress and 'em," I said as I continued writing.

"I was, but I didn't think it was really for me. It was more for Tigress," Krystal said, a little bored. I shrugged. "Why is Leo so tall?"

"Because he's half tiger."

"Really! Why didn't you tell me that?"

"I didn't think it was something that would come up," I replied. Krystal looked like she continued to think. "That's why he has sharper claws than normal rats and why he has sharp teeth. Also, when he goes 'demon', his eyes change like feline ones."

"Oh that's interesting," Krystal said absentmindedly.

"What's on your mind? You seem restless," I observed. She stretched her arms out and sighed.

"Nothing I just wanted to know something."

"What's that," I asked as I continued writing.

"Why did you write this stuff," She asked. I stopped writing to look at her. "I mean, why would you spend so much of your time just...writing things that never had a chance of coming true? It's kind of bordering denial and just fantasy." I looked at her, got up, took her pillow from beneath her, and hit her with it. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Because I wanted to. And I wanted to do this," I gently tickled the side of her neck. Usually, I would do this with my little nieces or children I was babysitting, but I was trying to prove a point.

"HAHAHA Stop!" She laughed. I noticed her sandals were off. I quickly went down to her feet and tickled her senseless. She was hysterical. Then I stopped. "Why (Pant) Why did you do that?"

"Did it feel good," I asked.

"It was...okay," Krystal said, trying to seem unimpressed. I presented my fingers in a scary way to her. "Okay, I liked it! It was good!"

"Krystal, there are some things that we do that we love to do. I love to write. You love to pounce on me," I said poking her in the tummy as she giggled. "Tigress loves to train, Po loves to eat, everyone has something that is a favorite hobby to them. Though it never accomplishes anything to promote the status of a person in the real world, it's nice to dream."

"I guess you're right," Krystal said. "How many stories did you write?"

"About 44," I said. Her face fell.

"Don't you think that's a bit too much dreaming," Krystal asked.

"No, there are many who have written 200," I stated.

"My Gosh!"

"Hey, don't judge a hobby." Then I remembered something. "Hey! Aren't we suppose to have a house sometime?"

"Yeah," Krystal said, sitting upright. "They'll be done with it in about two weeks." She shuddered.

"Scared of being completely alone with a guy," I asked.

"Not that, I'm just cold all of a sudden. Chills I guess," Krystal shivered. I wrapped a blanket around her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," I smiled.

"YOW!" Screamed a voice.

"That can't be good," I muttered. Krystal and I rushed to the Training Hall where Lee was jumping around trying to put out the fire on his butt. I quickly sprayed him with a wave of water. He sighed from relief, but his backside clothes were charred. "What happened?" I asked.

"Well, Po did a shoulder roll off of Lee, grabbed his hand and threw him over to the fire pit, which was on by accident," Mai explained. "You are a very remarkable panda." Po smiled widely.

"Thank you. I didn't think that playing with my fake sword would actually pay off," Po replied.

"So, how is Zaber doing," I asked.

"He's doing very well," Lee said patting his butt, making sure there was no fire. "He truly is a great warrior."

"I'm glad to hear that," I nodded. It was about late in the afternoon while I was in the kitchen making food for myself when Tigress came in. "Oh, what brings you here?"

"Nothing, Lee, Leo, and the rest of them went away for the night. They're staying at their vacation getaway house near here," Tigress stated.

"So I guess you got some answers to your major questions then," I said, pouring a cup of tea for her.

"Well, yes and no," She replied as I gave her the tea. "I know now why my parents left me at the orphanage. There was a civil war in the village. I know now who my parents are. Leo explained to me that my mother was La-Ju, the greatest assassin in China and my father was the original Midnight Stranger." I chuckled. Tigress looked at me.

"No, I'm just remembering when Po disguised himself as the Midnight Stranger and how you reacted," I explained. She growled at me. "Hey, it was funny. You can't deny that. So what was it like figuring out that you had a crush on your own father?"

"I did NOT have a crush on the Midnight Stranger!" She shot back.

"Oh yeah, you putting on perfume, eager to see him, and going into daydreams about him is your usual way of greeting guys," I smirked. She looked at me, a little creep out.

"How much did you 'watch' us," She asked. I laughed.

"More than you would like to know, honey," I smiled, sipping my tea. I could tell she was a little annoyed that I called her 'honey' but I didn't really pay attention to it.

"So moving on," Tigress said. "Who do you think will marry Po now that the law is passed?" I put down my tea. It was interesting that she came up with that as a distraction.

"I...have a few people in mind. Maybe Song," I said cheekily.

"That girl that was a part of those umbrella thieves! No way!" I smirked at her, raising my eyebrow. "I mean, Po wouldn't go for someone of that character. Plus, I'm not sure if they're really more than friends."

"How do you know," I asked. She looked away. "Anyways, I'm not sure Song is even available anymore." That got Tigress to turn her head to me again. "She maybe already in a relationship with someone else. I'm not sure honestly. Maybe Lui-Shi."

"The goat girl that nearly got him killed? No. They already established that they were just friends," She said. I thought I heard some kind of pride from her.

"Okay, maybe he will go for some panda girl," I said.

"Really? You think someone out of the blue who's a female panda AND a Kung Fu Master will come and love Po on the spot? No," Tigress stated plainly. I sighed as I got up from my seat.

"Well, unless someone speaks up and confesses their love for Po, he might as well die alone," I bluntly said putting my cup in the sink.

"You mean...that's it," Tigress asked. "Po doesn't have a chance with anyone else?"

"Like I said, unless someone who is a female warrior confesses, we don't have much of an option. I mean, thanks to Peng there are more people who can do Kung Fu, but still."

"Then there is hope," She said eagerly. I looked at her.

"Why are you so concerned for Po's sake? What is it to you if he can't find love? I thought you said relationships were distractions," I stated.

"Hey! I'm not that mean," She remarked, making me jump a bit. "I...I just don't want Po to be sad about his loneliness, after all we have done to try to get him into a relationship."

"Well, I'm trying to be hopeful," I shrugged as I went out the kitchen. I saw Krystal right next the door to our room fit to burst. I assumed she had heard everything with me and Tigress. I shook my head with a smile. "You are so excitable."

"I can't help it! You heard how she was concerned, right?"

"I know, I know. Come on, you need to get your sleep."

"Aw," she said like a disappointed child. I smiled. It was fun having her around.

to be continued