A/N: Yeah… Sorry for the wait. Me plus my parents are all sick… On the same time… Just lovely. But here I am.

Glad you like it. And sorry for the shortness but that is how it's going to be.

Stripes of a Tiger
Daughter

Tigress finally snapped.

She was not proud of it, but now it just finally happened.

It had been a normal morning, and the gong had sounded as usual. Master Shifu had been waiting for his students to show up, which they had done.

All except one.

"Tigress," Shifu muttered as he noticed that the tiger was not there. In a second he was overwhelmed with fear; had something happened? Had assassins been there? Was she kidnapped?

But all those dark thoughts only lasted a second, as Shifu decided to be calm and open the tiger's door. Tigress was there.

She was sitting on her bed, but she did not look up when he entered her room.

"Go to the training hall," he said to his other students without removing his glance from Tigress. "I'll meet you there."

He closed the door behind him, and could hear how his students walked away, doing what he told them to do. Shifu then focused on Tigress, who remained frozen.

"Tigress?" he asked softly, as he walked closer. The feline was staring at her hands that were resting on her knees, and her eyes were widened in frustration.

From what he could see, it seemed like she had gotten no sleep.

"I don't understand," she then said, still not looking at him.

"What do you not understand, Tigress?" he asked her softly.

"What I did wrong!" In a flash her eyes were looking directly into his own. It was like they were burning…

He tilted his head. "What do you mean?" he asked her.

"I do everything wrong," she sighed.

"No," he told her. "That is not true."

"Then why am I being punished?" Tigress hissed. "Why is it that I don't deserve it?!"

A pain in the back of his head told him that a part of him knew what this was heading towards. But he still found himself asking, "Please explain."

"If I knew what I did wrong, then I would understand. But without that knowledge it just seems unfair!" she exclaimed, and Shifu wondered for a moment if she had gone crazy.

No. This was just years of thoughts that were finally coming out.

"In Bao Gu… I would break something and people would fear me. That's understandable, though, I wished they could see they were all accidents. I never meant any of it! I have spent my whole life trying to make people proud, to be what they wanted, and I have achieved nothing!"

Shifu let his ears drop slightly. "I am proud, Tigress."

She shook his head. "No, you aren't," she hissed. "You are just saying that because you think that I have finally lost my mind."

"Then how can I make you believe?"

"You can't!" she snarled. "Because you have always made me believe just the opposite. Why are you suddenly changing?"

Not being able to find the right words, he laid his paw on her knee. But at his touch she stood up to glare down at him. "I've done everything for you! I've trained to me body was bloody and broken, only for you to say that we would continue tomorrow. I've tried, but apparently a failed every time. And why?! Because I am Tigress!"

It was like her mind had gone blank. She had never dared to say these things to anyone, but now it was coming out and she was no longer in control of it.

Like she was throwing up words…

"Tigress the Monster! The monster no one wants… The monster you didn't want!"

Shifu stared at her, mouth open in shock.

"Is it because that I am not Tai Lung? Or because you never thought that I could be the Dragon Warrior?" she asked him. "Because from the moment you saw me you knew I would fail you?"

"You never failed me…"

"Then why am I not good enough for you?" she snarled at him. "When you took me out of the orphanage I was stupid enough to believe that I could be your…" She found herself unable to finish that sentence as the word was too bitter. "But that was never your plan. The others think that you are cold to protect me. But I don't believe that anymore… Because it hurts too much."

"I would not make the same mistake again," Shifu said quietly, thinking about Tai Lung.

"Then how did it work out this time?" she whispered. "Are you happy? Because I am not." Her voice then turned that desperate that Shifu visible flinched. "Why can't I have a family?"

Shifu already knew the answer. Because of himself. But he never had the chance to answer, before she continued,

"Viper has a family. Monkey has. Everybody has. Even Po has, though he first realizes now how important it is and how lucky he was. Even you had a family. Then why can't I? What did I do wrong?"

Shifu truly hoped that the rest of the students were not waiting for him, for he knew that this was going to take a lot of time.

Why did he first start now?

"I am sorry," he told her. "I am so, so sorry." Tears were so close to be shown, but he forced himself to remain calm. "I was a fool when I thought that keeping you on a distance would help both of us. I knew you were hurting, but never this much…"

He took in a deep breath. "It's my fault, Tigress. Not yours. And I am sorry that it was you who had to suffer."

She glanced at him, and he could see curiosity in her eyes.

"I thought that words could hurt, but I now understand that the unsaid words hurt more. But I do love you, and you are my family. I just hope that I am your family too."

Tigress had finally calmed down when Shifu had finished his speech. She continued staring at him in some minutes, but then said, "Father." The word was weird, unused.

"Daughter," he said and suddenly pulled her forward in a hug.

She rested her head on his shoulder, and it was like a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulder. Tigress smiled softly, knowing that she finally had found a family.

But suddenly her eyes flew open, widened in shock.

This was not one of the dreams where she could just let it all out and then wake up to find that nothing had changed, was it?

Tigress could feel Shifu's tears as he too had found something he had been missing, but for Tigress this was pure horror as she understood that his was real.

She had just told her master everything.

Dear gods… This was nearly humiliating. How could she have…?

But then again, Shifu's hug, his words… Having a father…

Tigress continued smiling again.

Weird as it was, she was happy that this time it was not just a dream.

A/N: Finished. Not much to say else than remember to check out my new story 'The Cost of A Sacrifice' and that a review to 'Spread Your Wings' never would hurt.

Next letter; E. Next word; Evil.