Author's note:

So sorry for not updating this story in weeks! Hope this chapter makes up for it!

They both walked until they got to a small lake, the lake was not even 6 feet in diameter, though by now, the moon was shinning on it and somehow it made it look bigger. There were rocks surrounding the area, all wet and mossy thanks to the water. The trees provided shade, which was not needed since the sun was already down. Po and Red took a seat on the rocks, next to each other.

Red put her feet on the edge of the water and started to drag them across the surface, making little waves spread out. Po was watching her, the moon was shinning on her side, and her eyes were fixed on the water, he stared at her, again getting that weird feeling, as his eyes continue to trace her body, it seemed that she was posing for a portrait.

Po opened his mouth to say something, but found no words. He licked his lips.

"We are here, so, why don't you talk?" She said, her eyes still lingering on the water. Po only nodded.

"Well, you know the Valley of Peace." The feline just nodded.

"I- how about you go first." Red just groaned and rolled her eyes. But she began to talk,

"Fine. You were right, I'm Tigress. surprise!" she said sarcastically, waving her hands up in the air with a fake grin. Po only chuckled at her, silently cheering to himself for his correct assumptions. If only Shifu knew that he had found her.

"So what made you-"

"Who I am now? I think the answer to that is always yourself isn't it? You decide that to do with your life, and i decided to do this" she simply said, looking at the reflection of the trees on the water. She continued to dip her toes on it, the water helping her distract herself from the memories that were resurfacing.

"Hold on. You did it for a reason, so what is it? What made you do it?" Tigress sighed,

"It was all because of a stupid decision I did when I was young, okay?"

"I want to know though." Tigress only glared at him, hating how he insisted on it, as if he didn't know that she wasn't comfortable with the topic. The panda only pouted his bottom lip, his eyes begging for her to tell him. Tigress sighed.

"It all started one afternoon...

Flashback to when she was about...15

Tigress was walking to the village, she was still young and learning kung fu, preparing for the team Oogway called 'Furious Five'. That, and because she wanted the Dragon scroll. She wanted that more than anything in the world...or maybe not, maybe she just wanted that because that would grant her what she really wanted. His approval.

That day was pretty empty, no villagers were around, and Tigress was just strolling, looking at the empty streets, making sure everyone was alright and that there were no problems. As a child, well, at least that's how Shifu and Oogway called her, even if she was already 15, there was still some excitement on these small, almost pointless missions.

Tigress remembered feeling a bit...odd that day. She didn't know why though. She had a weird dream last night and somehow she got the feeling of someone watching over her shoulder. It was nothing to worry about, Shifu explained to her when she told him. but Oogway told her that maybe its because something was going to change for her, or because something was approaching. Tigress stuck to what Shifu said though.

As she walked back to where the palace stairs were located, she heard a few screams. She smiled, glad she could finally be getting some action, and ran towards the noise. When she got there, a lizard (A/N, no, is not Master Chao, just a random animal I picked), and a croc were fighting over some bags of money. Tigress could easily spot who the money belonged to. The lizard was wearing some fancy robes, some jewels were visible on his fingers, and a diamond piercing on his nose was poking out. Tigress shievered, a bit disguted by that last observation.

She ran towards them, and got in front of the royal king lizard or whoever that was. The croc took a step back, gripping onto the two bags of money while the rest where on the floor.

"You aren't gettin' the money." Tigress chuckled before getting into her stance,

"Oh, I wasn't asking." And with that, she began to throw some punches to the croc, who was having a hard time evading them. She kept her eyes fixed on the croc, managing to spot entrances to his weak spots. She faked a kick, and the moment he turned to block it, she sent a Palm strike into his abdomen, brutally sending him into the nearest wall and making a small crack on it. The croc didn't stood up. Tigress wiped off the dust on her paws and turned to the lizard.

He was collecting the bags of money, not even saying a simple form of gratitude towards the feline. Tigress crossed her arms, just as she was about to speak, Shifu came running into the scene.

"Lord Keishi. All you alright? " he asked, Tigress felt ignored once again. Wasn't she the one who just saved him?

""Thank God I am! That felline took long enough to help me!" He yelled, grasping his bags of money, glaring at the tiger. Tigress only narrowed her eyes but stopped when she saw Shifu giving her an intimidating look.

"Are you planning on donating some of that money?" Tigress asked, trying to change topics and hoping that by talking about something like donations, she would make a good image for herself.

"Donating? In your dreams! Why would I wanna waste this money on some kids who lost parents or need toys? Each man for their own, I say!" Tigress blinked, almost thinking it was joke. How cruel can a person be?

"You should, It certainly will be put to better use than it is now," Tigress stated. The Lord and Shifu turned to look at her, as if she had just said the worst thing in the universe. For a second, Tigress wanted to apologize, to take it back. But she wasn't. Because that's where she stood. And he knew she was right. And a rich Lord wasn't going to end with her pride.

"Take that back Tigress," Shifu ordered. But Tigress just stayed still, her mouth unopened and her whiskers twitching.

"Shifu," the Lord threaten.

"I won't, because I know I'm right. You know it too,, and a Lord isn't going to take away my words," Tigress said, looking directly into the Lord's eyes. She was challenging him. And she just wanted to burst out laughing, because his face was priceless.

But all its fun and games until the next thing you know, there is a door slam and she was now on the Jade Palace, Shifu grabbing tightly her arm, with fury written across his face.

"MASTER TIGRESS! THAT WAS UNACCEPTABLE! " she sank back and fear like she had never felt infiltrated her heart. But master Oogway walked in at that moment, wondering about the commotion, slowly walking with his staff. The sight set some relied on the feline's heart...but not on Shifu, who kept walking back and forth.

"What is going on here?"

"Tigress dared to challenge Lord Keishi!" Shifu answered abruptly and with an agitated tone. When Oogway darted his eyes at her, her only response was a small nod, directed at the ground.

"Shifu, I'm sure she had good reasons and-" Shifu interrupted him,

"Master, with all due respect, do not try to defend her this time. It was wrong. Wrong." Tigress couldn't take it anymore. Not when she knew that her reasons were something pure and good...and when she wasn't going to let someone tell her that it was wrong.

"Maybe I spoke out of turn, but I was right, and you know it. I just spoke my thoughts," shifu groaned, he hated how stubborn the tiger was. Once she had something on her head, good luck trying to take it out.

"Tigress, those weren't thoughts!" Tigress chuckled harshly.

"Oh really. Well, I know that I was right. I said what he needed to hear. And I'm sorry if the Lord didn't took it well, but that's his fault," Tigress stated, crossing her arms and speaking without a flaw.

"Tigress! Don't you get it! This is serious! "

"Maybe I don't, but what I do get is that I did the right thing, and you weren't there to back me up. You took the other side," Oogway knew better than to speak. This was between those two. But if he knew what would happen, then maybe he would have done something different. ..or maybe not... what's meant to be, will happen.

"It isn't about taking sides, Tigress!" Tigress scoffed.

"No. But what I know is that if I knew the right thing, I knew I could count in you to be there. That changed when you showed me that you can only see black and white, Master" she turned on her heels, leaving both Masters speechless.

End of flashback...

"I was mad. I remember storming off to my room and locking myself there," Tigress shook her head, her eyes becoming wet, but not a single hint of a tear escaping... as if.

"I was young and dumb. I made a tantrum. But how was I supposed to feel? Is like knowing you could count on something. ..and then...you realize you can't." Her fingers were shaking slightly.

"I ran away that night. I took nothing, and I didn't say it to anyone. Except for a note I left Oogway, it only had Goodbye written in it. And after that...I became someone else. New reputation, new life, new name, new everything. I dropped everything I had for nothing. I had it all!" Tigress exclaimed. Po could feel her pain. Not relate to it...but he could see it. She was broken, and no one saw it. And maybe that was the thing that held her from building back up. She became more and more rusted.

"You did it for what you believed in. And that's something. " Tigress chuckled, splashing a rock into the water.

"Besides, when you are young you run away, but you come back to what you need," Tigress let a small grin show.

"Who told you that?" She knew Po couldn't have said something that meaningful by himself.

"Read it somewhere," he shrugged. Tigress only sighed.

"what's done is done. Now what about you." Tigress kept looking at the water. She remembered how she used to think about going back every day, about apologizing, about telling how sorry and how immature she was. But she was always held back by something. And when she realized so she could...steal... that was enough to make her stop thinking of it. The thing is, she stole what she needed, not more than. And she gave part of the money to people who need it. At least she did something that made her feel good...a string of light on her life. Soon enough, she forbid herself to think about the jade palace, the Furious five, Shifu...the only two things she couldn't forget was Oogway and the Dragon scroll. But that later on changed when she heard the news of someone getting the dragon scroll. All strings attached to her home were gone afterwards.

Po wanted to help her as he watched the distant look on her eyes. Then that weird feeling he had been carrying went from his heart to the pit of his stomach, suddenly making him nervous. He swallowed.

"I'm sorry," he said, ignoring the fact it was his turn to share. Tigress only rolled her eyes.

"Po, I don't need your pity, as you can see, I'm completely fine." Po stared at her. Sure, she was okay physically, but what about emotionally...she wasn't. She lost her home, her dreams, the chance of getting his approval or his love. And it made sense to Po why she was like she was now, cold, distant, heartless. Except that was only on the outside.

"Right. Well, my story is not really interesting though. And compared to yours...it's pretty pathetic," Po began, Tigress chuckled.

"I bet is not that pathetic, is not like you ran away because of a girl or something," she teased him. But silence came, and Tigress widen her eyes. She looked at the panda, who suddenly seemed so interested on the ground. She smirked, then laughed.

"So it is, huh? She must have done something pretty bad," Tigress began, her claws caressing the grass. Po had the urge to make up a lie, but that wouldn't be fair, and besides, he was a bad liar.

"Yeah, she cheated on me," Tigress nodded.

"And so you ran away? Did you confrot her about it at least?" Tigress was having fun with his panda, it was fun seeing his reactions, fun seeing how he seemed so nervous. It made Tigress want to tell him it was alright, that it was okay and acceptable...but it also made her want to tease him...so she tried to balanced both of her wants. But when she took a glimpse at the panda, she forgot what she wanted. The panda was looking at the ground, lost of words, with an ashamed look on his face. Tigress felt something on her chest, something squeezing her and begging her to do something.

"Go ahead, I'm listening," she said, scooting closer to him, and offering him a small smile that soon banished.

things are going to get interesting from here on out! Review please!

-peace out!:)