A/N: Yyeeeaaaaahhhh, the plot is going somewhere! *thumbs up*

I hate to say, but this is kind of an imagination chapter. I know nothing of kung fu (sadness), so I don't know much to describe. I tried my best, but feel free to imagine all that awesome kung fu goodness. Also, I tried to explain transition shots, as if in a movie, in a paragraph story way, so I don't know if I succeeded, so I'm sorry. Also, the italics mean flashback and I put it in present tense to make it more dramatic.

And yes, there is some Po/Tigress. I'm trying to make it rational, though - no random fluff, because that would be crap in any "sequal" that Dreamworks is coming up with. So, there ya go. :D

Disclaimer: Puh leeeese. I dun' own this, dahling. (- Don't ask)

Scene V

I Trust You

The three masters walked in silence. Shifu followed the goat's instructions and found him to be correct. Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the forest. After searching for a few minutes, they found a path to follow.

They walked for about two hours, when Shifu looked at the sky and said, "We will make camp here."

No one argued, and each went to work. Shifu walked a few paces away from the camp and began to meditate. Po made a fire and began to cook dinner, while Tigress laid out the sleeping mats and created a small covering over the campsite in case the rain started again.

When she had finished, she sat down, leaning her back against a stray log and watching Po as he cooked noodles. Both were thinking of the other, and it was apparent by their faces. Tigress' eyes kept flickering at his figure as he hunched over the fire, wondering what he thought of the village's reaction to her: did he know why? Was he finally figuring it out? Was he thinking how she actually was a monster?

She closed her eyes in pain, the last question silently killing her. She couldn't live if she lost her best friend; he was the one who was always there for her, no matter what. When she had treated him like dirt when they first met, he still was there for her. He still wanted to be her friend. And when she finally allowed it, he had proven himself to be the best friend one could ever have. She wasn't about to lose him.

Po, while he was thinking about the events of the village, was not thinking any of the things Tigress thought he might be. He had no idea what the reason was for their reaction, and as much as he racked his brain for an answer, it would not come. Confusion seemed to drown him, and his eyebrows were scrunched together, his eyes flickering back and forth as he thought.

She finally spoke. "Po?"

She didn't know what to say, but she had to say something. She can't lose him, she can't lose him, she can't lose him –

"What happened back there?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" She knew exactly what he meant, but didn't want to just plunge into a painful topic. She wanted him to specific.

He poured the noodles, cooking from the small pot he brought in his backpack, into two wooden bowls that he also brought. He picked two pairs of chopsticks from the same backpack next to him, and walked over to Tigress, all while saying, "You know. What happened at the village."

He sat down beside her, handing her the bowl and chopsticks, and she gave a nod of appreciation. But neither of them ate, and instead they sat in silence.

Finally, she said, "Po, that was Bao Gu."

"So?" Po asked, becoming even more confused. He turned to her. "Why does that matter?"

She looked back at him, and her brain began to fight with her heart. But she knew she could trust him with anything. He would always be there for her (wouldn't he?).

"Stand up." She ordered, setting her bowl down and standing by herself.

"What?" He questioned, setting down his bowl, but took her hand when she offered it, and she helped him up.

She got into her pose, ready to defend herself. "Fight me!"

"What?" Po was even more confused than before. "Are you all right?"

"Just trust me." She said with a smirk, and he nodded and got ready himself as she spoke. "Ready? Begin."

He shrugged to himself, then attacked first. She easily blocked his fist, then sent her own flying towards him. He blocked it, and so the fighting cycle began.

"I was found at the doorstep of the Bao Gu orphanage when I was just a baby. No note, no letter – I was just there, wrapped in a blanket. No one knew where I came from or how I got there."

Po stopped fighting, shocked by her story (and what she was doing – telling her past and fighting at the same time), letting his guard down, and she hit him in the face. "Ow!" He yelled as he clutched his jaw.

"Don't stop!" She demanded. She retook her stance. "Again!"

Although his eyebrows were laced together in confusion, he didn't question it. He lunged at her again, and she dodged. He tried again, and she blocked. As she went for him, she continued on. "No one knew how to handle a tiger – in fact, no one knew anything about tigers. They raised me as best as they could."

Po blocked her punch, and then as she turned, he blocked her kick. He went to grab her leg, but she easily flipped out of it. She leaned in and smiled deviously at him. "Until, that is, they discovered my strength."

- She is smiling. She is young again. She is having fun. She looks down at the doll in her hands and smiles widely. It is her best friend, and she strokes it affectionately and kisses its head. But then a rabbit walks up to her. He wants her best friend!

He grabs the doll from her arms, and she is mad beyond words. She freaks out, crying out despair. She needs her best friend back! She reaches for the doll in the rabbit's hands, and once she has the doll in one hand, she puts the other on the rabbit's cheek and pushes him as hard as she can, sending him flying into the wall.

She didn't know people were there, but they are, seeming to appear before her eyes. Two caretakers go towards the rabbit, and she can see the tears in his eyes and the blood on his lips as another caretaker picks her up and carriers her away.

"So what did they do?" Po asked as he blocked her next punch. He went for one of his own, and she blocked it.

"I was locked alone in my room for years." She stated without emotion. "I was given specific times of the day when I could eat, go outside, those kinds of things – if they remembered, that is."

She and he have continued their fight, moving and dodging each blow the other sent. She dodged his current throw by dodging her body past a dark tree.

She sits against a dark wall. She is frowning and wiping her tears. She puts her hand on her stomach, feeling the absolute emptiness inside. Have they forgotten me? She thinks, but she knows the answer.

Her hand cannot wipe her tears away fast enough. Her pain is physical, as the emptiness inside her stomach hurts, but also emotional. She has not had a tender touch in weeks, months – years? She cannot remember the last time. She is lonely. She longs for affection that no one will give her, because she is feared.

He didn't mean to, but he let his guard down. She kicked him in his chest and, along with the unsteady forest ground, he fell on his back. He sat himself up after a moment as he watched Tigress walk towards him.

Did she want him to get up? Did she want to keep fighting? She stood, simply with her arms at her side and her chin raised high, not in her stance. So he dared to ask, "So what made it all change?"

He wondered how she would react, but instead she squatted down to his level, looking him straight in the eye as she answered from the heart. "I escaped from my room one day; just broke down the door and walked out."

"How did they react?"

She smirked bitterly, with eyes gleaming in a bitter shock as she remembered the night. "Completely terrified, as if I was about to slaughter them all."

There was something in her eyes that terrified him. It was this self-doubt mixed with bitterness that made him say, "But you wouldn't do that."

She smiled harshly. "Who knows? I could never even predict myself. A simple flail of the arm, and someone would start to bleed."

He didn't know what to say, so he stayed quiet. She needed to say more, he could see it by the way her eyes began to glaze over. She spoke. "It was the night when I thought I had figured it all out. That was my future. I was to spend the rest of my life in the dark, destroyed room, hoping to be remembered to at least be fed. I was to spend my life alone, without a single soul in the world to care."

"But you escaped." He stated. "Why didn't you just leave?"

She snorted. "And go where? I had nothing. So I stayed."

He looked at her questioningly, knowing that there had to be a happy ending to the story. After all, she would not be here if there was not. "But not for long."

She gave a small smile, but this time it was genuine. "They called in Shifu to help me control my strength. He trained me, and I was able to control it in within a year's time. However, while the orphanage was no longer afraid, the citizens of Bao Gu still were. No one would adopt me."

"Except Shifu." The words came out, just dawning on him.

She gave a nod. "Except Shifu. He took me to the Jade Palace, and I became his pupil."

"Wait, just his pupil?"

She gave a wistful smile. "It was better than what I had before."

She stood back up and then gave a hand to Po to help him up. The two went back to the log, leaning their backs against it as they relaxed.

But a question dawned on him. "So the whole reason Bao Gu called you a monster, because when you were a kid, you were strong?"

"In the simple way, yes." She answered with a nod.

"Wait, what's the complicated way?" He asked.

She smiled wistfully, shaking her head to herself. "For another night."

He couldn't argue with that; after all, she had already shared so much. He could not, nor would he, force her to give more than she wanted.

"Hey, Tigress?"

She looked up, and he smiled, "I'm glad you can trust me."

She smiled back, sharing the hopeful gleam in his own eyes. "Me, too."

The two looked away from one another, both going back to their own thoughts. Tigress couldn't help but smile; after all, she had just shared so much – much more than she had ever told a soul before him. He had accepted her, and he treated her exactly the same.

Po, on the other hand, became thoughtful. He wanted to show her someway that he still accepted her – that everything was still fine between them. He also wanted to show that he supported her, she never had to face anything alone while he was near her!

But how to show her? The thought dawned on him, and he could suddenly feel his palms begin to swear. He wiped them on his thighs quickly, took a deep breath, thought some overly positive thoughts, then decided to act.

Slowly, he moved his arm her shoulders. He was going on snail-pace, but he couldn't get his arm to move any quicker than it was. After all, how would she react? Would she be mad? Hate him? Love it?

She saw from the corner of her eye his arm inching its way around her shoulders. She smirked, however, as she saw his sheepish and terrified face. When his arm had finally made it around and was now resting on her shoulders, he winced, bracing himself for impact.

But nothing could have shocked him more than when she had rested her head on his shoulder. He could feel himself beginning to spaz in pure joy, but he suppressed it as best he could. Well, his body was fine, but his face was making weird expressions of both shock and excitement.

She sighed contently. "Thanks, Po."

His face stopped spazzing, and he suddenly became serious as he looked down at her. "For what?"

Her eyes met his. "For being there for me."

He gave a gentle smile. "Always."

She began to relax. She had never been this close to anyone before – both physically and emotionally. She was never hugged, never touched; any affectionate contact was rare. She closed her eyes as she realized that he was the most important person to her; she could not have asked for a better friend.

He could feel himself wanting to begin his spazzing again, but instead he closed his eyes, feeling her head relax on his shoulder and how she seemed to relax even more when he pulled her into himself.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

The familiar voice sent Tigress and Po apart in a flash, as if the other was fire, both flailing as they move as far away as possible.

"What?" Po said, beginning to ramble in front of Shifu. "You weren't, you weren't interrupting anything!"

"Oh?" Shifu said with a raise eyebrow. "Seemed to me the two of you were getting very…comfortable with each other."

The young masters turned a bright shade of red, avoiding their master's eye and each other's.

Po continued. "What? Oh, no, no. We weren't…I mean, it wasn't like that…She had just told me – and I was all like, it's okay, I'm here – and we were having a best friend moment – that's all, and – " He stopped as he noticed the doubtful look on Shifu's face. He instead said, "Uh…what I meant to say was that Tigress was just showing me the, uh, Power Strike of, er, Tien Yhao!"

"Hmm. I've never heard of it before." Shifu stated, obviously not buying the lie.

"I'm sure you have!" Po continued. "See, you grab your opponent, then – wa haaaww – break the scapula and walk away."

"Really?"

"Really. Break the scapula. Walk away."

Shifu looked at Tigress, and by the look on her face, a mix between awkwardness, shock, and confusion, and some type of trust me, he's telling the truth, with her mouth in a wince with wide confused eyes, he knew what he assumed had been accurate.

"Well," Shifu stated. "It seems to me you're not quite ready for this move yet."

Tigress winced, closing her eyes as she realized what he had really meant by it.

"Er, yes, Master." Po said, then watched as Shifu walked away. He leaned over to Tigress and whispered, "I think he totally bought it!"

She smirked, rolling her eyes. "Good night, Po." She stood up and went to her mat, while Po simply smiled, feeling like the happiest person on earth, his worries and fears - currently - behind him.