A/N: Thanks to all you guys who subscribed and reviewed me. In any case here we go with Chapter 1. Drum roll please!

Disclaimer: Possession of Kung Fu Panda does not belong to this one particular writer.

Chapter 1: Finding Your Path

The sun was just beginning to shine over the horizon. A luminescent warm glow slowly bathing the whole of the Valley of Peace. Not moments ago, the Valley was still as night clung to the homes which speckled its base. Now smoke could be seen coming from roof tops and small fires could be seen from afar as meal preparation for the household began.

It seemed that whenever the light of the sun touched a home, it would awaken groggily from its slumber. Shopkeepers would walk out and unlock their stores for purchase, farmers would open their barns to retrieve their tools, and even Mr. Ping stepped out of his home to unlock the doors to his famous "Dragon Warrior Noodles" shop while he prepared food for his loyal customers.

Suddenly, as if on cue, a wave of sound slowly crept through the extent of the valley on the breath of the wind. It started with the low hum of family households as they woke to get started on their required home duties. Next, came the energetic moving tenor line of the market places. As denizens left their homes in the morning they ventured toward the market districts of the valley to trade, buy, and barter with local store owners. Then, the mellow alto of the farms joined the chorus as the dull thuds and scrapes of field labor filled the warming air. Finally, the high soprano of the children of the valley finished this exposition of sound. The high pitched squeals and laughter of children cut through the rest of the noise of the valley. Whether at play in the streets of the market places or in the arms of new adoptive parents near Bao Gu, theirs was the happiest melody of them all.

All these sounds, joined together in joyous harmonic fashion, came together and celebrated one thing in common: Today was a beautiful day.

All of this and more was captured by the ultra-sensitive feline ears of the tiger meditating in the meadow just outside the Jade Palace. She had been there since the first rays of light began to creep over the tall mountains surrounding the picturesque landscape. However, such early morning endeavors were not unlike her. She would often leave the barracks of the palace to venture out into the rough terrain surrounding the palace as an early morning workout. That or she would just do as she was doing now and clear her mind before the days events. She felt it necessary especially after the events of the past few weeks.

Aside from the Battle of Weeping River, she and her comrades had just returned from the most life threatening mission they had ever faced. The crazed ex-Lord Shen had planned to take over China with an army of renegade wolves and a massive fleet of warships each equipped with dangerous new weapons designed to overpower the art of Kung Fu. They stopped his plot, but not without earning a few scars from the ordeal. She herself, even with 20 years of training to make her body as dense as iron, had to refrain from training upon their return home after trying to stop a blast from one of Shen's weapons bare-pawed.

She shivered, Those were THE worst twenty consecutive hours of my life, she thought.

They had stayed in Gongmen city for the next few days afterwards for celebrations, formal functions, and the memorial service held for Master Thundering Rhino. Finally, after what seemed like months away from home, they returned to the Jade Palace. For the first few days, Master Shifu considerately gave the warriors the next few days off. His reasons were: One, the physical exhaustion of the journey and mission; and Two, the emotional taxation as well. Shifu even personally made sure that she visited a healer during that time, and was forced into bed rest or meditation for the next twenty hours.

With nothing else to do, and refusing to sleep away the day like a certain panda she knew, she spent the whole time meditating. While normally this would bring her comfort and a relative sense of peace, she soon realized that something in the back of her mind was gnawing at her. At first she could ignore it, dismissing it as battle fatigue. However, after a week of the same sensation she decided that ignoring it was only making it worse.

Instead of fighting it any longer she had endeavored for these past few days to find its source. As Master Oogway would have told her, The longer one refuses to open their eyes, the more painful the light is when they are forced to see. What she saw when she meditated on this was... confusing.

She saw images of the previous conflict playing through her mind over and over again. At first she thought this was normal. It was a hard won fight that she would surely remember for the rest of her life. What began to confuse her though was the constant motif of the images present.

They all had moments between her and the Dragon Warrior.

It had been almost two years since the noodle maker's son Ping Po had defeated the infamous Tai Lung, and began to fulfill his destiny as the Dragon Warrior. At first she was entirely skeptical of the whole notion, even after Tai Lung's defeat he still seemed a bumbling oaf in her eyes. What changed was that after only a few months of training and completing missions with him she saw him for who he truly was: A talented warrior with a heart of gold.

After she realized that, the panda became something that she didn't often allow herself. A true friend. She knew in her heart that Po would do anything to keep his friends and loved ones safe. She also was extremely proud to be considered one of his dearest friends, though she had no inkling as to why. She found she could come out from her hardened exterior when she was talking to him; which made her feel vulnerable, but in a strangely good way. She had only been just getting used to this when that mission began. Now what felt natural felt slightly overwhelming.

The images now playing through her mind as she meditated were those of when she and Po had shared embraces during the mission. These images made her feel something she could not quite describe. She felt warm, but at the same time like a chill was running down her spine. While she received strange feelings from these images, she absolutely refused to dwell on the others which she had. Images of her fighting hoards of wolves while she tried to reach Po as he fought with Shen in his factory, feeling panic and desperation. Then the ultimate pain and sense of hopelessness when she saw him launched through the factory wall by the weapons fire. She would often retreat from said memories to the ones of her and Po in order to quiet the painful emotions they brought.

She sighed in frustration and rubbed her temples, Get a hold of yourself Tigress! How can you ever attain Inner Peace if things like this get to you?

While her logic told her she was going insane, her heart would often ignore it's counsel and return to the images. In some strange way, she felt more at peace when viewing these images.

Just as she dwelled on these thoughts her ears picked up on the sound of something approaching from within the bamboo forest around her. At first her instinct was to immediately stiffen every muscle in her body and prepare to defend herself. However, after further observation she relaxed and let a content smirk appear on her peaceful face.

The figure now coming into the meadow was mumbling and growling to himself as he made his way through the dense bamboo, occasionally stumbling on the stalks as he walked onward. When he finally reached the clearing he heaved a sigh of relief before promptly tripping over one last shoot of bamboo and tumbling forward onto the ground with a thud.

Tigress opened her eyes, remaining seated and with her back facing him, "You're late Dragon Warrior." she stated with a serious tone, but a sly smirk on her muzzle.

The panda groaned as he pushed himself up off the ground. "Yeah, well. You know. Had to take some extra time to build up my energy reserves. All this bodacity doesn't take care of itself." he exclaimed patting his rotund gut.

The tiger turned her head enough to gaze at him from the corner of her eye while giving a knowing smile, "Monkey changed where he hides his cookies again didn't he?"

"Yeah I swear it's like he- Uh I mean WHAT? Pfft nah of course not!" exclaimed the panda, "I mean, what friend would try and steal little confectionary delicacies from one of their best buds? Warriors like us have way more important things to do, am I right?"

The tiger rolled her eyes at the pandas antics, still smiling, and leaped up from her lotus position into a backflip landing less than 3 feet directly in front of the gawking panda stood. At first she was surprised at how she had misjudged her trajectory. Then, at that moment, she felt something from those fan-boyish Jade eyes of his. It was a strange warmth which permeated her entire body, and frankly made her a little uncomfortable. It was not that she disliked whenever Po gawked at her "awesomeness", in fact she found it quite endearing to why she appreciated him as her best friend aside from Master Viper. However, this current state they were in was a little too foreign for her. In order to break this strange stalemate she gently cleared her throat causing Po to snap to attention and quickly avert his eyes to the side, blood visibly running to his cheeks causing the female tiger to smirk.

After a few seconds Po finally regained his composure, "You know Tigress? I think it's beyond cool that you invited me to come and train with you today. Probably one of the coolest things I can think of right now, actually." Po then lets out a huge yawn, "But why does it have to be so darn early in the morning?"

As Po was talking, Tigress had already turned around and walked into the middle of the meadow. Po was beginning to follow her move when she turned around and playfully glared at the panda placing her hands on her hips. "First off, oh mighty Dragon Warrior..."

Po winced, Oh boy, she used the title in a matter-of-fact way. I should've kept my mouth shut.

She continued, eyes half lidded walking back towards the panda. "I didn't invite you here. You begged and pleaded me to let you 'hang out' with me while I train. Second, 'Be there before dawn' does not mean meander towards that general area a half hour after Zeng wakes up to get the mail. And thirdly,..."

Po had at this point halted all forward motion as Tigress came up to him placing a single digit from her paw on his chest prodding him accusingly. "...I am not the one who needs to practice his Tai Chi for the annual Peace Festival which happens to be in less than a month."

Po stared contemplatively into her ember irises before replying with a heavy sigh, "Mostly true, kinda true, and... yeah pretty much."

At this Tigress gave him a warm smile and playfully punched him in the left shoulder and chuckled, "Come on panda. Let's get started."

This was all something Po was now quite used to since the battle in Gongmen city. Ever, since they took down Shen, he and Tigress had become close friends. This was a side of Tigress he really enjoyed bringing out. He didn't even know she could open up like this, let alone with the panda that took the title she had been working toward her whole life. But even she said that was behind her now, and all that mattered was their friendship. For Po, the most awesome thing about it was that it seemed like their own little "secret friendship". During mission briefings he would always smile whenever she acted all "awesome leader-esque" as he liked to call it and she in turn did the same whenever he was "that goofy panda." It was all done quietly though when the Five and Shifu were around. Otherwise, when they were alone like this, it was as if they could fully open up. And as he stared at the female feline as she began to go through a Tai Chi sequence, breeze rippling through the soft pelt on her calm relaxed features he realized something.

I wouldn't want to change this for the world.

"Po. Your jerking your body too much." For the past hour Tigress had been guiding Po through some basic Tai Chi techniques. While he was understanding most of it, his impetuous nature was preventing him from moving on to the more advanced techniques.

"Remember that Tai Chi is meant to help your body flow with the natural currents of energy around you as well as focusing your own chi. You can't fight your way through it like battling a foe."

Po stopped and watched as Tigress moved around her space with grace and elegance. Every so often the light from the sun would catch her pelt just right that her face would seem to glow a golden hue as if she were a female Buddha. Po shook his head breaking his trance, but not before Tigress had caught his gaze and felt heat rise slightly to her cheeks causing her to break concentration and stop her motions.

There it was again! Thought Tigress frustratedly as she looked at her paws in confusion, I need to focus, maybe I am still tired from the mission.

Po's admiring gaze soon turned to one of concern as he looked at the seemingly perturbed tiger next to him. "Tigress? Did I do something wrong?" genuinely worried.

Tigress then noticed Po again and regained her cool confident air almost instantly. "It's nothing, Dragon Warrior." She could tell Po wasn't buying it though, so she turned fully toward him, and placed her fist into her palm bowing. "But I thank you for your friendly concern."

At this Po grinned. "Nah, what are friends for, right?" Tigress gave a curt nod and a small smile in thanks and they gazed into each others' eyes for a few seconds. Green and ember embracing each others kind gaze for what seemed like hours. With the soft breeze caressing each of their pelts they felt calm and serene just to gaze at one another. It was in a word, peaceful.

Suddenly, Tigress was struck with an idea and broke contact. Of course, she thought. When she went to speak with Po again she realized he still hadn't stopped staring. She became slightly flustered and cleared her throat a little to bring him back to earth. When that didn't work she got a little annoyed a shouted, "Po!"

At this the panda came back instantly, realizing what he did his cheeks immediately turned bright pink. Again Tigress rolled her eyes and continued on with her inspiration "Po, what do you think about when you achieve Inner Peace?"

Po's eyebrows furrowed in surprise and genuine perplexity, he sat down as he pondered on the question. It hadn't been since Gongmen that he last used the ability, and the last time he used it was on a dare by Monkey to see if he could dodge and deflect random fruits and vegetables that he would throw at him. Needless to say that little stunt caught unwanted attention from both Shifu and a bunch of angry food stall vendors. After a vicious tongue lashing from the Grand Master of Kung Fu, and severely lighter coin purse the panda had learned never to use the ability again for frivolous endeavors.

Upon reflecting the Panda shrugged, "I don't really remember. I haven't done it in so long that it's a little fuzzy, you know?" Tigress joined him on the soft ground nodding slowly contemplating his words.

"The reason I ask is that I believe if you let your Inner Peace take hold while you are performing Tai Chi, you could do it flawlessly." encouraged Tigress. She had personally never experienced it, but based on how Shifu described it she had no doubt that "harnessing the flow of the universe" would help immensely with Tai Chi.

Po looked at his friend with a worried expression, causing Tigress to look as equally concerned back at him. "Tigress," mumbled Po "isn't that... you know... Cheating?"

At this the tiger actually made a sound he hadn't heard come out of her ever. It sounded like a snort as she covered her mouth with her fist, eyes smiling wildly at him. At this Po couldn't help, but laugh as well. Once she couldn't contain it any more, Tigress let out a few humorous giggles adding to their chorus of laughter. This continued for another minute or two before Tigress took a big breath in and regained her composure. Po was still smiling at what had just occurred causing Tigress to smirk back at him.

"Po, if using a new found ability to better your mastery of Kung Fu and similarly related arts was ..." she chuckled lightly again "'cheating', then Oogway would have been considered a felon."

Po shot his signature smile at the tiger before him. He never realized just how lucky he was to have such a wise and kind person as Tigress for a friend. "Thanks Tigress." He said shyly.

Tigress smiled back, "It is my duty in anyway to assist the Dragon Warrior. Now let's give it a try." She said as she jumped gracefully to her feet. "Now, focus and try to remember what you thought of."

At this Po nodded confidently and rose to his haunches as well. Tigress took a few steps back quietly observing as the panda began to breath in deeply and focus his chi. Moments passed, the breeze in the meadow had come to a stand still. Just as a new breeze was felt in her fur he started to move. It was like watching a river. The giant panda moved gracefully and fluidly about his space. While he moved, the tall grass around him swayed in the breeze. If Tigress didn't know any better she could have sworn that Po was manipulating the elements and nature around him, when in fact he was actually feeling the flow of the universe not controlling it. She gazed in wonder as her friend slowly became one with the universe around him. Then, just as she thought he would become fully one with nature, as Oogway did, he slowed his motions until he was standing still with his right palm held vertically and open in front of him.

He opened his eyes and saw Tigress, hands on her hips beaming at him like she did in Gongmen harbor after Shen was beaten. He smiled back and they stayed that way for a long time. Soon though, Tigress' smile became relatively sad and she turned away from Po.

"You have become a great master, Po." she said softly, "Even better than I."

Suddenly she felt his paw on her shoulder. She turned her head and looked into his smiling Jade eyes. "Master Tigress," said Po bowing low before her "I am unworthy of the praise from such a skilled warrior as you, thank you."

At this Tigress smiled softly, and then chuckled. "Did Master Shifu give you that line panda?" she said jokingly.

He feigned looking upset and pouted, crossing his arms and turning his body slightly, "Well if you don't like it I'll take it back." he replied but couldn't keep up the charade as a smile tugged at his mouth.

"No." said Tigress with her ember eyes smiling at her friend, "Your words mean a lot to me, oh mighty Dragon Warrior." she emphasized genuinely as she returned his bow.

Her sad smile returned again, "You have just mastered Inner Peace in such a short amount of time. It's... I envy you Po I really do."

Finally, grasping what was going on Po did the one thing he knew could help. He pulled Tigress in for a hug. She stiffened at first, but then relaxed and embraced him back. "That means so much to me Tigress. Thank you." She nodded into his fur and they stayed that way as another breeze embraced the two friends.

"And you know what?" asked Po.

"What?"

"I would be more than happy to help you find your path to Inner Peace, Tigress."

Though she did not respond to him, he felt her hold on him tighten a little after he spoke letting him know that she knew he meant it.

When they finally broke the hug they stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like hours.

"Tigress?" Po said softly, as he leaned his head in a little.

"Yes Po?" she said as her gaze pierced intensely into his soul.

"I... just-"

"Master Tigress! Dragon Warrior!"

Po and Tigress instantly broke their contact and looked towards the direction of the call. It was Zeng, frantically flying in their direction. He landed on the ground in front of them, panting heavily.

"Okay chill out Zeng. What's the problem?" asked Po with relative amusement.

Zeng took a few more breaths before calming himself, "Master Shifu has an urgent message that requires the full attention of yourself and the Furious Five. He has recalled you all back to the Hall of Warriors. he said to get there immediately." said the exasperated goose between short breaths.

"Thank you Zeng. Tell Master Shifu we will be there shortly." stated Tigress

"Sounds... terrific. But, if you don't mind I am just going to rest here for a while." said Zeng as he passed out on the ground in front of the two masters.

Tigress and Po then turned to each other and nodded smiling. "We better get moving. Shifu's expecting us Dragon Warrior."

"Right. Let's roll out!" yelled Po as he sprinted ahead toward the bamboo line.

Tigress smiled, but stopped before breaking into a full out run up toward the Jade Palace. Po stopped when he noticed she didn't pass him. "What's up Tigress?"

She quickly glanced at him, "Nothing Po. I'm fine."

Po nodded, but as soon as he turned around to run up the hill he heard a soft voice say, "Po. I would be honored if you would join me again tomorrow morning to train." the voice sounding almost hopeful. Though when he turned to look, he saw Tigress standing with her fist in her paw bowing.

He turned toward her smiling his big goofy grin. "That sounds awesome Tigress, it would be an honor."

At this she nodded curtly and ran on all fours to catch up to and eventually pass the panda on the way up to the palace. But as she passed him Po could have sworn he saw a big smile on her face.

I gotta lay off Monkey's cookies.

A/N: So here is le chapter uno. Let me know what ya think, and give me suggestions to make this story move. I want aim to please. have a great weekend everyone!

W.R.

P/S: I called Po, Ping Po because in actual Chinese the surname comes before the given name.