The Battlefield

Tigress, Po, Lee, Mei, and Leo were ready for their departure into the battle zone. Miwa hugged Leo tight before he went. "Please come back safe," Miwa pleaded. Leo hugged back.

"I promise I'll come back alive," Leo assured. They departed for the village at the bottom of Mount Shang. "So we have the troops coming behind us and the northern fleet, right?"

"Well, yes on the troops behind us, no on the northern fleet. We can't wait anymore. We're just going to stop the attack and then wait for the reinforcements," Lee explained. Leo stopped in his tracks.

"That's...not a good battle strategy," Leo said.

"Well, we don't have much of a choice," Lee sighed. Leo dashed off in front of them.

"Then we better hurry!" Leo exclaimed. They ran after him. They reached the village in record time. Lee was panting out of breath.

"That...was...very...tiring," Lee panted. Mei helped Lee up giggling.

"Looks like you're out of shape," The orange cat laughed. Lee huffed.

"I'm in shape. 'Tired' is a shape," Lee insisted.

"Um, guys? Can we focus on the mission here?" Leo said. The village was a little bleak and grey. Must be due to the mountainous region. Anyways, The group was just getting in when the invasion started. Suddenly, there were people rushing to their houses and homes. "Well, looks like we're not going to be able to rest a little," Leo sighed. The group could see them charging down the mountain.

"Lee, Tigress, you guys try and break some headway at the front. Leo, you go with them. Mei and I will stay down here and pick out any strays," Po instructed. The wolf, tiger, and rat ran up the mountain. However, Leo could faintly see someone distinct in the crowd.

"It's Wong-Hu!" Leo exclaimed pointing to the leading man. Tigress could see for herself that Wong-Hu was definitely big and mean-looking. Po was right. She could hardly see him with all the snow. Leo extracted his sharp claws, Lee pulled out his swords, and Tigress got into her fighting stance. Soon, they clashed with the invading army. Lee's swords sliced through the shields. Leo slid and jumped over rhinos and tigers punching them out.

"Some are getting away!" Tigress shouted kicking one rhino into another.

"Po and Mei will get them. If not Po then Mei will surely get them," Lee replied. Tigress jumped back and grabbed a sword. She had just so happened to jump in front of Wong-Hu.

"Well, I didn't know that 'Emperor Tiger' had woman warriors as soldiers. The kingdom must be weak," Wong-Hu said with an evil smile that reminded Tigress of Tai-Lung. Tigress punched and kicked at Wong-Hu but he dodged them. Wong-Hu tried to sweep Tigress off her feet, but Tigress jumped out of...sweeping-range? "You're pretty good."

"You're not too bad yourself," Tigress replied. Then Wong-Hu realized something.

"You're the Jin-Min warrior, aren't you?" Wong-Hu said. Tigress stay silent as her intimidating glare was fixed on him. "Then why are you fighting me? You know your prophecy. You're suppose to join us in destroying Japan! Come on, you know it's your destiny, why prolong it?" Tigress thought about it for a moment. Then she remember Leo and all the others that were hurt by Wong-Hu.

"No, you've hurt too many people for me to ever join you. Plus, there's someone I want you to me," Tigress smiled wickedly. Leo jumped over Tigress and took a major slash at Wong-Hu. Wong-Hu stumbled back, but Leo wasn't stopping there. He took a spear he took from one of the guards and plunged it into both of Wong-Hu's arms. When Leo was about to finish him off, Wong-Hu clawed at Leo's abdomen.

"LEO!" Tigress cried as Leo went down. Tigress picked Leo up and ran down the mountain. A few of Wong-Hu's men came to pick him up. The invasion was over, Po and Mei had captured the strays. When they saw Tigress and Lee running down the mountain, they saw that Leo was injured in Tigress's arms.

"Quickly, get him into that house," Mei instructed. Soon, Leo was bandaged up around his stomach. Tigress explained what happened. Po sighed.

"You guys are lucky you didn't get killed," Po said sternly.

"Po, we were okay. If anything, Leo was the real menace here. You should have seen how he clawed at him," Tigress said. Mei looked at Lee. He was cleaning off his bloodstained swords. Lee noticed his wife glaring at him.

"Don't worry, I just wounded. I told the guards here to pick up the wounded," Leo soothed.

"I said we need to wound Wong-Hu. Not put him in the near-death stage," Po said frustrated.

"He deserved it," Leo muscled out. Mei gently pushed him back down on the bed.

"You promised Miwa that you would return unhurt," Po reminded.

"I promised that I would come back 'alive'. I didn't say would come back unscathed," Leo corrected. Po grunted a sigh as he pinched his nose. Tigress rested her hand on Po's shoulder as she smiled.

"It's alright, Po. We finished off most of Wong-Hu's men. Everyone's okay," Tigress said. Po went outside to look at mountain. Tigress went outside with him. "What's wrong?"

"It's what Wong-Hu said to you. Do you have any doubt about your destiny?" Po asked with his eyes fixed on the mountain. Tigress thought about what he said.

"I did a little, but then I remembered the people he hurt and I couldn't do that," Tigress replied. Then she leaned her head on Po's side. "That and I wouldn't want to be against you in battle. It would tear me apart." Po chuckled.

"But sparing is different?" Po asked chuckling a bit.

"Of course, I can beat you up any way I want that way," Tigress replied. They both laughed. Then Po attitude got serious.

"Tigress, do you ever regret loving me when you first loved me?" Po asked. Tigress's smile turned into a frown.

"Well, the times when you and I would argue did make me question why, but...the truth is that half the time I argued, it was because I didn't want to seem...soft," Tigress said quietly. Po looked at her. "What?"

"Tigress, the day you seem soft, is the day that Tigra is gentle," Po said making her giggle a bit. "Just remember that even if you seem soft, that doesn't mean that it's a bad thing. I mean look at me," Po said patting his belly. "And I'm Dragon Warrior and the Mighty Zaber." Tigress chuckled.

"Well, when I was young, I didn't trust that many people because I was just ridiculed," Tigress said sadly.

"So is that why you were so mad at me for making mistakes around you in public?" Po asked. Tigress nodded.

"But I realized it was okay. I just had to let it go like you did. So I never did regret loving you to answer your question," Tigress smiled. Tigress kissed Po's cheek. Po blushed.

"I love you, too. I never have or will regret it," Po said.

"Hey, you two get in here. It's cold," Mei spoke. The two went into the warmth of the little house.

to be continued.