A/N: *On my knees, begging for mercy* Forgive me! I know that this chapter is really late, but I have a project on my school. And I was alone with it, so I had to work 24/7. And on top of that, I got the main role in my play last week and the show is on Saturday! But here's a chapter! Hope you'll like!

Behind The Golden Eyes, Gone In The Fire

Tigress quickly found one of her cloaks, a simply brown one. She liked because it didn't gave her much attention. She was nearly itching to meet this 'monster'. She wasn't even a little afraid; she had defeated too many enemies. No, she was excited.

She walked as quickly as she could. As soon as she stepped outside, the rain hit her. She glanced to the sky. It was fall and the night was coming quickly. It was already dark. A thunder roared, but Tigress didn't as much as flinch. She just pulled the cloak's hood over her head.

When she saw the light in the gardener's house, she started to walk a little faster. She slowly opened the door, her golden eyes scanning the room.

A male tiger was leaning his back to a wall, his knife cutting in some tree. When she stepped in, he shortly looked up, then turning his attention back to his work. Tigress walked closer, irritated by the tiger's behavior.

She stared at him, until he finally spoke. "Don't you know that it's impolite to disturb someone when they are working?" He didn't look up from his piece of tree.

"Was you the one who attacked Piao?" Tigress asked, ignoring his comment.

The male tiger finally lay down the unfinished sculpture. "Attacked isn't really the word. You should try saying 'protecting your responsibilities'."

Tigress snorted. "Responsibilities? Are you meaning the herbs? And just so you know; you don't have to protect anything from Piao. He's harmless."

The tiger chuckled, irritating Tigress even more. "Well, I have to admit that he wasn't the strongest enemy. Not even smart."

"You are the one who is stupid enough to think that Piao as an enemy. Is the paranoia driving you crazy?" Tigress sneered at him. Somehow this tiger was testing her nerves.

He walked closer to her. "Says that seamstresses who doesn't know her place."

"Seamstresses?" Tigress asked stunned.

"Isn't that what you are? Or are you working in the kitchen? No, you don't look like you can make food. I am guessing a maid."

Tigress finally understood. This tiger didn't know that she was Master Mei-Hua's student. Her cloak was hiding the most of her face, so he could really see her. But somehow this felt nice. Not being bowing for or treated like she was royalty. She would like to continue this fight a little longer.

"A maid? That's exactly what I am."

"Does the maid have a name or isn't she important enough to be called by it?" The tiger mocked her.

"Lu Chu." Tigress immediately said. She couldn't say her real name. What if this tiger had heard about a Master Tigress? She wanted to know more about this tiger. "Yours?"

"Enlai, the new gardener." He told her, taking one more step closer to her. First now Tigress looked at him closely. He was muscular, only wearing some brown pants. His stripes were thicker and darker than hers, making him look more mature. His eyes were something between golden and brown.

"Oh, should I congratulate you?" She asked sarcastic.

Enlai's face darkened. "You are not so friendly, you know that?"

Tigress flinched. Yes, she knew. She had just lost her friends. But she wouldn't let him win this fight. "It's you that attacks others. Do you even know what they call you? A monster." She tried not to cringe at the last word. She could still hear the taunting laughter and see the evil glances.

The male tiger seemed untouched by her words. "It's funny how people just throw that word around. Like it doesn't matter. Like it's harmless. But everything matters. Do you know that, Lu Chu? And right now, my work matters. So if you please could leave, so I can continue what I was doing."

"You can't kick me out." Tigress said challenging.

Enlai walked slowly closer to her. "So I can't? I am not so sure about that."

To her surprise, Tigress found herself backing away. The male tiger was acting threatening. "Don't you touch me or I will tell Master Tigress. And believe me, you don't want that." She sneered at him.

The tiger immediately stopped. He glanced curiously at her. "So you are Master Tigress maid?" He calmly leaned his shoulder against the wall. "Tell me about her."

Tigress tried to keep her mask. How could she tell him about herself? "She is none of your business."

Enlai laughed. "You could be right about that. I was just curious. The rumors are saying that she is one of the powerful masters ever seen."

"The rumors are right. If she wasn't, she wouldn't be Master Mei-Hua's student. But keep your nose for yourself, gardener." She sneered again.

"So the kitty has claws? Should I be scared?"

"If you were smart, yes. But you have clearly proved to me that being smart isn't one of your skills."

Enlai laughed again. "You know what, maid? If I was you, I would run back to the palace. You are getting yourself into too much trouble."

"Trouble usually finds me, so don't worry; I can handle myself. But thanks for caring about me." She spat back.

"It's my pleasure. A kitty like you needs someone to look after them. They just don't know when to shut up."

That was too far. Tigress was nearly burning of fury. "You… You…" She was so angry that she couldn't find the words. To make it even worse, Enlai tipped his head, and put on a face so he looked like he was really interesting to hear what she was saying.

Tigress turned around, to storm out of the room. But when she was so angry, she didn't really look at her surroundings. She tripped over some logs that were lying on the ground. Luckily for her, she managed to grab the wall for support, but damage had been done.

She left the room as quickly as she could, to avoid hearing Enlai's laughter.

Tigress was furious the rest of the day. She had humiliated herself in front of that… That gardener! How dared he? He didn't know his place! He had no right to behave like that! That stupid…

"Tigress, is something bothering you?" Mei-Hua's voice disturbed her with destroying the training dummy. If she wasn't so angry, she would have trained with something harder, but now she just wanted to hit something.

"No. Why, Master?" She asked, her eyes not leaving the dummy.

Mei-Hua sighed and put her paw on her student's shoulder, to make her stop a moment. "You are always strong, Tigress, but when you are irritated, your movements becomes furious."

"I just have a lot of energy, Master."

"Is it about the Jade Palace? Tigress, I know that it's hard…"

"They are just busy." She punched the dummy again. "And I am fine."

Mei-Hua blinked with her golden eyes. "You are not feeling lonely, are you? As your master, it's my duty to secure that you are happy."

"I am happy. Lu Chu and Piao are great friends." Tigress murmured as an answer.

"Do you know that we have gotten a new gardener? He's only a little older than you and he seems very nice. I am sure that you can be friends." Master Mei-Hua suggested her.

Nice? Friends? Had her master even met Enlai? Tigress gave her master the slightest node before going back to training.

When she first saw them, she became happy. First know she realized how much she had missed them. Shifu, Po, Viper, Mantis, Crane and Monkey were all in the Hall of Warriors. Tigress herself was standing beside the Moon Pool.

She greeted her friends by bowing to them. "Master, I…" She looked up to Master Shifu, but he didn't return her glance. It was almost like he was looking through her.

"Master?" No response. It was like he couldn't see her.

Tigress began to be nervous. Her golden eyes narrowed. "Viper?" The snake didn't answer. "Guys?" She was yelling now. Why couldn't they see her? Why couldn't they hear her?

Then she looked into the pool. What she saw scared her. It wasn't her own reflection. The person she saw in the water was Master Mei-Hua.

"No…" She whispered. This couldn't be happening! She glanced back to her friends. There was still no signs of movements. Then the fire started.

It wasn't really a fire, but everything started to disappear. It was like someone has thrown it all into a fire. The flames started to lick the picture and Tigress could do nothing about it. Her friends were still starring empty at something behind her. They couldn't hear Tigress screaming their names in fear. But then she stopped.

Tigress didn't do anything. She stared blankly at them, trying to figure out who they were. But she couldn't remember. She couldn't remember anything. They were all gone for her.

And as they the fire destroyed everything, the darkness began to take over. It was the only thing there was left. Nothing…

Tigress woke up panting. Her golden eyes couldn't focus on something; she tried to see her whole room at one time. It was all dark, but it was pretty normal compared to the fact that it was night.

When she finally calmed down, Tigress tried to clear her thoughts. She must have been having a nightmare. A bad one. That was weird. It was many years since had woken up because of a nightmare.

But… What had this one been about? Tigress tried to remember, but the only thing she got was darkness and nothing. It couldn't have been that bad if she couldn't even remember what the nightmare was about. She decided to try and sleep again.

But she lay awake in a long time. It was like there was something important she had forgotten to do. Like it was in the back of her mind, but she just couldn't reach it. Tigress groaned and buried her head in her pillow.

What felt like hours went before Tigress' eyelids finally became heavy. She slowly drifted into sleep. But just before her mind went blank, she suddenly remembered some orange flames.

"Master Tigress? Master Tigress?"

The tiger yawned again. "Was it is, Lu Chu?" She asked tiredly.

The maid sighed again. "Master Tigress, I know that this isn't your favorite thing to do, but you could at least stay awake." Lu Chu shook her head; she should have known that this wouldn't be easy.

"Why can't we just wait to another day? It's so late know, she won't be coming."

"It isn't that late, and I am sure it's because of the weather." Lu Chu told the irritated tiger.

Tigress didn't answer. They were waiting on the tailor, who should have been there for nearly an hour ago. Master Mei-Hua believed that Tigress needed some new clothes and called the tailor, an old fox that Tigress didn't have the best memories about. The tailor had a hard time with accepting that the tiger didn't wear dresses.

Lu Chu glanced again. "Are you feeling fine, Master Tigress? You look tired."

"I just had a bad night." Tigress tried to hide another yawn. "Nightmare."

"I am sorry to hear that. If I must ask; what was it about?" Lu Chu asked humbly.

Tigress blinked in surprise. "I… I don't remember." She answered honestly. The maid nodded; then there was silence between the two.

Lu Chu glanced at the master. It looked like she was daydreaming. Maybe she was wondering about…

"They still haven't answered, Master Tigress. But I am sure that the letter will arrive soon." Lu Chu knew that it was bothering Tigress that her friends were ignoring her. She just prayed that the thing she had tried to comfort the tiger with was true.

Again, Tigress had to blink. "Huh?" What was the mountain cat talking about?

"The masters in the Jade Palace. They haven't answered yet." Lu Chu tried not to seem so stunned. But in so long time had Tigress asked her every day about a letter and now she seemed to have forgotten everything about it.

Tigress could remember the Jade Palace. She knew that she had lived there before she had followed Master Mei-Hua. She had been Shifu's student. But… There had been others. She was sure of that. Her old friends… It seemed foggy when she tried to remember their faces. But they haven't written to her, so it was okay that she had forgotten them a little. Right?

The tiger was again lost in her thoughts. Well, at least until a familiar antelope burst into the room.

"What's wrong, Piao? Have Kang getting tired of your teasing again?" Tigress asked, after seeing the servant panting like someone was chasing him.

"It's… It's…" The antelope still tried to catch his breath.

"Spit it out, Piao. We don't have the whole day!" Tigress wasn't exactly the most patient person.

"The monster… He is coming!"

"What!" Tigress almost yelled. This wasn't good. Not good at all. And she couldn't flew, because her master had told her, that if she as much as leave the room in a second, she would be punished in training. Tigress knew that Master Mei-Hua didn't want to do it, but she was going to make sure that Tigress didn't escape from the tailor this time.

"Apparently he's on his way back to his herbs after a talk with Master Fox. But he's coming this way! I told him that he should stop, but he said he had a message to you, Master Tigress!" The antelope told her, looking like he was considering barricading the door.

Lu Chu glanced nervous at the master. She didn't like to talk about this monster and especially not that he was coming towards her!

"Wait a minute! Didn't you say that you had showed him his place, Master Tigress?" Piao suddenly asked her.

Tigress felt how her cheeks started to burn. She had not exactly done that. Actually, she had…

Oh no! When she had talked with Enlai, she had said that she was Lu Chu, Master Tigress' maid. When he saw her now…

"Lu Chu, I want to try a dress. Now!" She quickly said.

"But… But the tailor isn't here, Master Tigress." Lu Chu told her, her green eyes big.

Tigress started to pull her away. "I know. We will shift our clothes."

"What?"

"Come on, Lu Chu. You've always said that you want to see me in a dress." Tigress said, as she dragged the maid behind the curtain that has been moved into the room to the tailor's arrival.

Lu Chu didn't really trust the idea. "But what am I going to wear?" She said, as the girls disappeared behind the curtain.

"My clothes." Tigress said flatly.

"What? Master Tigress, with all respect, I don't think that it's a good idea."

"It's only in a short time, Lu Chu. And if you so much as try to take a look, Piao, I promise you are going to regret it!" Tigress threatened the servant that immediately turned his back to the curtain. He would not risk his life for that.

Tigress heard the sound of a knock on the door. "Is Master Tigress in there? I have a message for her." She recognized Enlai's voice.

"Uhm… I don't think she is ready for a visit right now." Piao weakly said to the door. He briefly glanced at the curtain to get some help with this, but quickly moved his glance when he remembered Tigress' threat.

"Then open the door when she is ready."

Tigress and Lu Chu glared at each other with big eyes. One feared this 'monster', the other fearing that he would find out the truth. What could she do? Go out to him and said that she really was Master Tigress and she had lied to him? No, it would be a humiliation.

"Don't say a sound, and no matter what happens just stay here." She whispered to Lu Chu. The maid nodded silently.

She walked toward Piao and whispered to him. "Just play along." The antelope didn't understand a thing, but didn't say anything. He watched as Tigress opened the door.

"Hello, Lu Chu."

"Hello, Enlai. Nice to see you again." Tigress said, not meaning a word of what she was saying. Though, when she saw the male tiger it felt like he was something she needed. A person that she could be real with. But the truth was that he didn't know who she was, and she wasn't going to tell him. What a weird person to be herself with. But when Tigress was talking with him, she wasn't Mei-Hua's student that everybody had to bow for. No, she was Tigress, the real Tigress that could handle a discussion with him.

The two tigers stared challenging at each other. Piao looked from the one feline to the next. Lu Chu? But this was Master Tigress! Why was she…? Oh…

"If you could do it fast, gardener. We don't want to see your face more than necessary." The servant spat. He hadn't forgotten what had happened yesterday.

Enlai smiled amused. "Oh no, Piao. Are you still thinking about our little accident? You must soon learn to forget and forgive."

"I forgive those who deserve it!"

Tigress pushed the servant away from the male tiger. "You said you had a message?"

"I said I had a message to Master Tigress."

"So now you are a messenger and not a gardener?"

Enlai tried to go further into the room, but Tigress stopped him. "If you have a message to Master Tigress, then you'll have to tell me."

"I am sure that if Master Fox told me to deliver a message to Master Tigress, then he meant that I should deliver a message to Master Tigress."

"But Master Tigress is busy right now, so you have to tell me and then I'll tell Mater Tigress. After all, I am her maid."

The gardener didn't look convinced. "But how can I know that you'll keep your promise?"

"You'll have to trust me. And Piao can make sure that I'll do it."

The servant glanced at her. "No, no, no, no. I don't want be involved in this."

"Well, then I'll have to trust you. Tell Master Tigress that her lesson with Master Lynx tomorrow is canceled. Master Sheep wants her to meet him instead."

"I'll tell her." Tigress said. If what he said was true then she'll have to go to 'school' tomorrow. Just great…

"Then I'll go now. I'll see you later, Lu Chu." The tiger turned around to leave, but the door became open before he could touch it.

Master Mei-Hua and the tailor stepped into the room. "I see that you have met Enlai, Tigress. He is… Why are you wearing a maid's clothes?"

Tigress felt her cheeks burn. She nervously touched the green dress that she now was wearing. "I… I wanted to try a dress." She could hear how stupid it sounded.

Mei-Hua nodded slowly. "I see. But what about Lu Cu? Is she…"

"I am here, your highness." The maid walked out from the curtain. "It wasn't my idea." She said when Mei-Hua saw her wearing Tigress' training clothes.

"If you want to have a dress, Tigress, then I am sure that Mrs. Dao-Ming can help you with that." Mei-Hua told her student. She wasn't really mad, more surprised.

Tigress tried not to gulp when she saw that the tailor already had her needles in her paws and a murderous look in her eyes. "Yes, Master Mei-Hua."

"Then give Lu Chu her clothes back. I don't think she feel so comfortable in yours." Mei-Hua turned to the gardener. "Is something wrong, Mr. Enlai?"

The tiger was completely frozen with a stunned expression on his striped face. Tigress tried to avoid his eyes.

"I just think that I have been misunderstanding something, your highness. But it's fine now. I'll go back to the garden." He bowed and leaved the room.

Tigress clenched her paws. This was one of the most humiliating moments in her life. How could she have been so stupid? To make it even worse, the tailor was already showing her fabric to her new dress. Tigress wondered if she would be able to survive until tomorrow.

A/N: Well, I hope you liked it. If not, please be kind! Wait a minute… Tigress is starting to forget her friends! What's happening? Someone has to do something! Wait again! I am the writer! Oh… And don't fear, the next chapter will be here soon!