A/N: I have already stated at the start of the first chapter about the fact that this story is not an idea taken from Pandafan91's fanfiction and I have already talked to him about it. My whole statement stands for every chapter I post now and afterwards. Also the disclaimer I'm about to give stands for all present and future chapters as well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda or anything that might be attributed to it. I only own the OCs.

Chapter 2

Ascertaining Capabilities

Po and Leonne ran to catch up with the trio of masters who were now someways ahead of them. However, at the foot of the Thousand stairs they saw Tigress coming to the halt along with the other two masters. They came to a stop behind them, too.

As much as Tigress wanted to bound up the steps, report to Shifu and vent her anger on the Wooden Warriors, she knew she had to keep an eye on this new comer. She started her ascent up the legendary Thousand steps at a normal pace, the others right behind her.

Thanks to the constant trips Po had to endure every time he went into the village to help his dad or fight bandits, he was now more accomplished at climbing the torturous steps. Their climb up the first hundred steps was uneventful. It was not until they began climbing the next hundred when Po fed up with the silence, spoke up.

"So, what's your name?" he asked trying to start a conversation with her.

Leonne was walking with her gaze straight ahead. She turned her head ever so briefly when she answered his question "Leonne" she said.

"Okay...so where did you learn to fight like that?" he asked wanting to know more about her.

Leonne however frowned slightly when he asked this and Master Tigress hadn't missed the change. Personally, she had wanted to start asking question the moment they had started climbing up the stairs but she knew Po wouldn't be able to keep his curiosity in for long, so she had waited patiently, not wanting to look too interested.

"Nowhere" Leonne finally answered Po.

Po looked taken aback. He opened his mouth to ask her how that was possible, but Mantis spoke up "But you must have learned from someone." Leonne's frowned only deepened when Mantis said this.

"No, I haven't" she answered back.

Tigress found her answers ridiculous. She cleared her throat. "Apologies, but you really think that we would believe that you've trained yourself?" she asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"I guess so" The leopard answered her back, looking at the Tiger Master not with fear or disgust but rather interest.

"Who are you? Where did you live before this and why have you come here?" Tigress asked somewhat harshly. Viper hissed at her. She was being almost as mean as when Po became the Dragon Warrior.

"I think I'll tell Master Shifu where I've come from and why I'm here." Leonne answered feeling slightly angry all of a sudden, yet her voice was even.

The answer only served to aggravate the striped feline even more "What are you trying to hide?" she suddenly burst out. "I swear if you're a thief I'll-" she suddenly stopped when she heard a deep growl coming from Leonne. The leopard didn't say a word as Tigress stared back at her with a look that dared the female leopard to say something to her. But Leonne didn't say anything. She just gave her a glare before resuming her ascent up the stairs.

Viper slithered up to Tigress. "I think that was really harsh of you, Tigress. You can't go on blaming someone like that." she scolded.

Tigress only stared at Viper in reply and then turned to walk up the stairs behind Leonne, Po and Mantis.

Po could see Tigress was not happy with the leopard. He knew it was his idea to bring Leonne with them in the first place and that Tigress had been against it. But he couldn't understand why she was so upset about it. It was proabably because the leopard had fought off the bandits. Or maybe it was something else as well. She was seldom directly harsh with someone. He wanted to ask her right then, but he kept his mouth shut. He knew perfectly well that Tigress wouldn't answer his questions with the leopard around.

Leonne climbed up the steps ahead of Tigress and Viper. She couldn't believe the Tiger Master had suddenly just accused her like that. She looked up ahead of her. Breaking out of her thoughts about the orange-furred feline behind her and saw that they were approaching near the Jade Palace. It's top portion gleaming in the sunlight. She looked to her left and saw the vast area that was hidden by the clouds that surrounded the mountains this high up. It would have been breath-taking if they could have seen everything clear down there. Unfortunately, they couldn't.

About five minutes later they were all finally at the top of the stairs. Po was panting slightly, but he quickly recovered. Leonne and the others stood there stood there waiting for the Panda to recover and lead them inside.

Once Po got back his breath, he stepped forward and placed his paw on the large vine-patterned door of the Hall of Warriors and swung it open, revealing the marvelous site inside to their guest.

Leonne stared wide-eyed at the Hall. It looked beautiful with its magnificent yet strangely simple design. She could see many artifacts gleaming on their stands, each speaking a tale of their own. The walls and pillars sparkled with a magnificence, that is rightful for the place it was known as. Even the tiled floor was reflecting their appearances. At the far end however she could barely make out a statue of a Dragon on the ceiling, hanging over some structure that was in the floor. Probably a pool. But she wasn't sure. To sum it all up, the place held a certain calm and balance that you would be hard put to find somewhere.

Po waved his hand in a welcome gesture "Behold, the Hall of Warriors that holds the awesome artifacts belonging to great Kung fu Masters of all time." he said with a smile and a giddiness which seemed confusing since he had already seen this place multiple times. Probably it was the excitement of showing his guest around.

Leonne took a good look around the place. Admiring everything. She turned to look back at Po and nodded "It's nice." she simply said.

"Yeah, I know. It's awesome. I'll just go get Master Shifu, he must be in his room." with that he raced off to find his master.

Everybody stood quietly near the open door, after Po left. Tigress' tail was swishing back and forth as she waited for her Master to arrive, Viper was staring at the floor, Leonne was taking in the details of the hall more slowly now and Mantis was looking at the three females one-by-one. Not sure what else to do.

Just then they all heard a flapping sound and looked outside. Everyone jumped out of the way just in time as Monkey came flying in through the door and skidded to a stop quiet some distance away, thanks to the polished floor that granted him more liberty to keep sliding. Crane landed beside the others, slightly amused at their angry faces.

Tigress looked at Crane, expecting a report. He immediately replied "We got them to Chor-Gham just fine. They weren't a problem."

"Good and what's with Monkey flying in through the door?" she asked looking at the golden langur who was rubbing his head as he sat on the floor.

"He was hanging onto me as I flew him up here, but then he said he wanted me to throw him through the door just for fun. So I did. Only I think he didn't mean that hard." Crane said sheepishly.

Tigress raised an eyebrow, expecting Crane to be the last one to be indulged in such playful activities.

"Hey, it was his idea. I just threw him. He should have told me how hard." Crane cried indignantly.

Mantis snickered, even Viper was amused.

"It's okay, man!" Mantis said. "Just throw him harder next time." he said and burst out laughing.

"Not funny, Mantis." Monkey said angrily as he walked up to them. "Next time you can try sliding half-way across the Hall of Warriors on your face."

"Maybe next time, you'll think twice before telling somebody to throw you through the door." Tigress scolded.

Monkey then spoke up."Oh come on, Tigress. It wasn't that bad. I had fun-"

"-sliding on your face."she finished for him with a smug look.

Monkey only stared at her then turned away grumbling something none of them could make out.

"Where's Po gone to?" Crane asked.

"He went to get Master Shifu, I wonder why he hasn't returned yet." Viper answered turning around to look towards the place where Po went.

"So you guys only made it up the steps while we went all the way to Chor-gam and back?" Monkey said joining the conversation to feel less out of place "You guys are real slow, you know"

"We didn't exactly run up the steps. We had somebody with us. Remember?" Tigress said looking at Leonne, as if accusing her of the delay. The leopard simply looked Tigress straight in the eye. Her face giving nothing away. In all honesty, she would have been fine with running up the steps with them. But she didn't say anything.

The avian and the langur turned to look properly at Leonne for the first time. They were surprised she hadn't said anything. Monkey finally walked up to her.

"Hey" he said holding out a hand "The name's Monkey"

Leonne just looked at his hand, just like she had looked at Po's. Not making a move to take it. Monkey looked at her confused and slightly embarrassed at being made a fool of twice in one day. He turned his head to look at the others, asking them silently and with the raising of his eye-brows, what he was doing wrong. When he received no answer he lowered his hand. "Uhh...I guess that does the introduction. Nice meeting you." he said and quickly moved away from her.

She just watched him silently. What he had just done reminded her of somebody so much. And she had once again done the same thing she had done all those years ago. She hadn't shaken hands.

(With Po)

Po had gone running down the hall to look for Master Shifu. He stopped in front of his room,a blind placed in the door to grant some privacy to the occupant inside. He raised a fist and knocked on the blind four times and waited for his Master to come out.

Master Shifu heard the knock and sighed. He had been absorbed in his scrolls so much he had nearly forgotten the Five and Po had gone on a mission. He could see the large shadow of the panda that stood behind the blind. He placed his scrolls back on their shelves. Then he proceeded to the blind and moved it aside to see Po standing there with a nervous smile.

"Ahh Po. I see that you are back. Did you deal with the bandits?" he asked, his arms folded behind his back.

"Uhh, yeah, about that." he started. Master Shifu raised his eyebrow. When Po's speech started like that, it never meant anything good. He gave his student a stern look, prodding him to tell him what had happened without actual words.

"Well, you see Master Shifu, we all made it to the scene just fine. But there was somebody already there to deal with the bandits." he said. Master Shifu's face took a slight look of curiosity, wondering who had been bold enough to take on the bandits.

"We brought her along. She was pretty awesome. And she took down..." he began, feeling slightly bold now, since his Master hadn't said anything to him yet. But Master Shifu raised his hand to silence him.

"Po, you say you brought her with you to the Jade Palace?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, Tigress didn't want to but I thought she was pretty good and that we should bring her here to meet you. She..." he stopped talking when he saw the knitted-eyebrows look on his Master's face.

"You brought her along, even when Tigress said you shouldn't?" he asked his voice slightly angered.

It may very well be that this person, whoever she was, had dealt with the bandits but that did not imply she was on the good side. This whole thing could be a setup to get access to the palace. It might seem unlikely but you never know what goes on inside the head of a villain. Tigress usually had a good judgement of people and if she didn't want to take this person with them, then it couldn't be good.

"Hey! Tigress had a special grudge against her the moment she set eyes on her while fighting. I don't think she was really saying that out of her better judgment" Po argued his case. Mantis was right. Master Shifu never liked what he brought.

Master Shifu massaged his forehead and sighed "I guess it only makes sense to go see who it is now. We can't just leave her standing there." with that he began to walk off towards the Hall, knowing that's where Tigress might still have their guest if she didn't trust them. Po followed him nervously.

"Who is she?" Shifu asked while walking towards the Hall.

"She's a leopard and her names Leonne. Tigress asked her why she was in the Valley but she said she'll only tell that to you." Po replied. This made Master Shifu walk faster. Anything could be possible.

(With the Five and Leonne)

Monkey fed up with standing in the door finally muttered "Where is Master Shifu?" but his question was almost immediately answered as he saw Master Shifu walking up to them, Po following him.

They all lined up at once and bowed.

Shifu raised his hand to signal them to stop bowing. He looked to see the different face among them but he needn't have bothered because the next second Leonne walked up from behind and bowed to him "It's an honor to meet you Master Shifu along with the Dragon Warrior and Furious Five" she said in one go. The others looked at her. "So she can say more than a few words". they all thought.

Master Shifu stared at Leonne as she straightened. A strange look passed over his face for a second as he looked at her her face but it disappeared just as quickly.

"Po said you fought some bandits in the village today?" he asked.

"I was just trying to be of some use." she replied.

"Really?...I see. How many of these bandits were there? And where did you find them?" he asked.

"I was in the Noodle restaurant. There were three bulls who were trying to steal from the owner, so I stepped in." she answered.

Master Shifu stroked his beard and glanced subtly at Tigress as if to ask her whether this was true. Tigress nodded her head slightly.

Shifu then turned his attention back to Leonne assured now that the information was correct "And where did you learn to fight?" he asked.

Once again Leonne's expression turned into a frown "I trained under no one. I'm self-trained." she said.

Crane and Monkey exchanged disbelieving looks behind her. However, judging by the lack of reaction from the other Masters they felt they must already know.

"You.. trained..yourself" Master Shifu stated slowly as if doubting it himself. He paused for a moment then said."Very well, we can ascertain your capabilities in the training hall." With the announcement he began making his way to the Training Hall.

"And yes" he said turning around suddenly. "I remember Po telling me you would state your business in the Valley only to me. What is it that you only wish to tell me?" he asked. His light blue eyes boring into her darker ones.

"I wish to tell that in private." she simply said ignoring his stare.

Master Shifu scanned her from top to bottom. "Very well. We shall discuss it later." with that he turned back around to proceed to the Training Hall. The small party behind him following.

Master Shifu, Po, the Furious Five and Leonne entered the Training Hall. At once Leonne scanned the training course inside, taking in every detail from the holds of the chains of the Swinging Clubs of Instant oblivion to the fire regurgitating Field of Fiery Death's multiple mouths. She was deeply impressed. She would like to try it, wipe that, she was itching to try it.

Master Shifu walked someways ahead of where she had stopped to admire the course. Finally he stopped and turned around to look at her with his students standing behind him looking curiously at her, wondering how she would fare.

"You will be going through the whole training course. Your task is to get to the other side without getting hurt. Or at least not without getting hurt severely. This will allow us to test your different capabilities. For instance, patience, discipline and balance." Master Shifu explained.

Leonne nodded, understanding. She then opened the clasp of her cloak and pulled it off, bending down immediately to place it in the satchel she had just placed on the wooden floor. She folded the brown cloak, placed it inside than after rummaging inside for a moment pulled out a black flat cap.

As she stood up straight the Masters could see she was wearing a completely black vest with a collared V-neck. A white Shaolin waist wrap was around her waist that had a single black line round its middle. Her pants were jet black as well as the cap she placed on her head. In short, the masters could tell black was somewhere high on her wardrobe choice. Nevertheless she didn't look bad.

She placed her bag to the side and went to stand in front of the first training obstacle. The Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion. She stood ready.

Master Shifu after observing her for a few seconds went over to a lever and pulled it. Instantly the equipment groaned and then came into swift action, daring some brave soul to approach it. Leonne watched the progress of the Clubs for a few minutes then looked over at Shifu, waiting for his signal.

He gave a nod "You may begin"

That command was all Leonne needed. She at once lept into the deadly course. Dodging, swerving, smashing and roaring. It was all she needed to vent out the pent up energy inside of her. She always loved it.

She might have been brutal on the Wooden Warriors which already had to face Tigress' wrath every other day but she was nevertheless graceful and precise in her movements. She didn't break a sweat on the Seven-Talon rings and the Jade Tortoise, where it seemed the motion of the large dome didn't effect her. The only place where there might have been a slight fault was the Flame of Fiery Death. She hesitated for only a fraction of a second before plunging into the stove that cooked live meat. But faltered again when the first few flames came rushing up. It burned the fur on the tip of her tail slightly and she hissed in pain. But the pain was all that she needed to bring her back to had her sharp senses and she immediately began gracefully avoiding the rest of the flames. Finally successfully landing with a double-flip on the other side of the Training Hall, victorious.

The Jade Palace Masters were impressed to say the least. She walked back to the side of the Training course, where the six Masters were standing. Every one of them with approving smiles, except Master Shifu and Tigress of course. She still wasn't sure whether she could trust this snow leopard. Something just wasn't right.

Po could no longer contain his excitement "You were amazing in there." He turned to look at his comrades beside him "See I told you guys she was awesome" he said smirking.

"We were all their Po" Monkey said annoyed.

"Oh yeah" Po thought for a moment then turned his face towards Tigress' who was standing next to him with her arms crossed.

"Told you so" he said to her teasingly. Tigress gave an annoyed huff and pushed his face away from her. Seriously, now was not the time.

Leonne merely looked at Master Shifu, awaiting his evaluation of her performance. He turned his head to look at the training course and then back at her. Finally he gave a hint of a smile as he said to her. "I have to say you maneuvered through the course very well. However you did falter at the Field of Fiery Death. Why, may I ask?"

Leonne merely looked blankly at him. Her eyes not giving anything away. But behind them she was thinking.

"I was just distracted by the fire that's all." she finally said.

Shifu observed her closely for a second before saying "One must learn to be completely focused when they are in difficult situations. Had you not regained your senses soon, I'm sure you would have sustained severe burns."

Leonne bowed her head in understanding. She knew she shouldn't have hesitated. She raised her head back up to hear what he had to say for her last.

"None the less, I think you should stay at the Jade Palace for the next few days. I want you to train here with the Dragon Warrior and the Five for a while. But..." he paused almost dramatically.

Leonne was surprised to hear everything Shifu had said this far. "Stay at the Jade Palace? She was being asked to stay...here?" she waited for Shifu to complete his sentence.

"..Your real test will take place after lunch. You will spar each member of the Furious Five and Dragon Warrior." Leonne looked at Shifu for a second before she bowed in respect to him. "Yes, Master Shifu" she said.

Master Shifu then turned towards his students who immediately straightened up. "I think you can all have some free time for now. You will spar after lunch and that can make up for the morning training you've missed. One of you can also show Leonne around the palace and her room in the barracks."

Everybody exchanged surprised looks for a brief moment before bowing to their master "Yes, Master" they all chimed in unison. With that Shifu walked off to attend to some matters. But before he exited he turned around and said "Dragon Warrior, a word please"

Po looked curiously at Shifu's retreating back then followed, he wasn't sure what was in store for him. He walked outside and stood before Master Shifu who was standing with his arms folded behind his back.

"Po, I know I said it was wrong of you to bring her here. But...I think for once you have done the right thing. Whether you used you heart or brain this time, I don't know, but I believe for once you might have made a right choice."

This was the last thing Po was expecting. Praise. He smiled for a moment before he frowned "What makes you think it was a good choice?" he asked.

"I'm not sure yet, Po. I think that she isn't here for just any reason, but for something bigger. But I have to be sure. That is why I have asked her to stay here a few days. And probably I will know what her purpose of being here really is. In the meantime, I want you to help her around the place if she needs it and do not reveal anything I've told you to anybody. The rest will know when I see fit"

"Yes Master"

"Good, you may go now"

Po bowed again and ran back into the Training Hall. Everybody was standing in an awkward silence there. But as soon as he showed up he broke it up with his usual upbeat tone.

"Hey, guys...hey Leonne, I can show you to your room and give you a tour of the palace if you like"

Leonne who had been looking around the Training Hall silently, now looked at the panda. "Thank you, that would be nice" she answered.

"Alright then let's go." Po said giving a fist pump, ready to show their new guest around. "I'll meet you guys at lunch" he called back to them.

Tigress' tail twitched as she saw Po walking away, she still didn't trust the leopard and she was definitely not going to do that anytime soon. "And she better not do anything to Po" she thought of accompanying them but decided Po was more than capable of handling himself. With that thought she turned back around and turned on the training course. Besides she needed to train, or more likely let out her now mounting frustration.

Mantis took one look at the warriors behind him, finally he made up his mind "Hey Po, I'm coming with ya, wait for me" he jumped off towards the door where Po had just vanished along with Leonne.

The trio behind him looked at him for a second, shrugged then went off to do whatever they pleased until lunch.

(With Po)

Po led Leonne down the steps, towards the barracks. Mantis riding on his shoulder. His thoughts drifted to Tigress for whom he harbored some deep feelings. He wanted to ask her so much what was bothering her, and somehow he knew it wasn't just the fact that Leonne had fought the bandits for them. Usually when she suspected someone she would more than likely turn out rude towards that person.

He entered the building, leading the leopard behind him to her new room. He passed Tigress' room, finally stopping in front of the one on its right side. He slid the door open and then stepped back after taking a brief look inside. It was just the same as all the other rooms in the barracks. It had a simple drawer and a candle holder at the moment but he knew that Shifu would be telling the servants to be bringing up a cot,some blankets and pillow for her and maybe even a mat.

"Here you go" he said smiling and waving a large black furry arm inside the room. Leonne stepped inside as he cleared the way for her, taking a look around the place. There wasn't much to see. She set her satchel on the room floor and turned back around ready to leave to take the tour Po had mentioned.

However, Po was standing nervously in the door. He finally spoke "Uhh..I know it isn't much. But Master Shifu says that we-"

"-it's alright Dragon Warrior" Leonne cut him off.

Po looked surprised then gave a small smile "Well, I guess we should start on that tour then?" he asked her.

She nodded her head in assent.

"Then let's go" he said.

Po and Mantis were more than ready to give Leonne a tour. The first thing Po had introduced after exiting the corridor was "These are the barracks. This is where we eat and sleep"

"And do a whole lot of other things" Mantis had added.

Po had then walked to the kitchen "This is the kitchen where we have our meals."

"Mind you, the noodles he makes for us are pretty awesome" Mantis added.

And this is how the introduction to the other places with both of them constantly talking had proceeded.

She was shown the arena where tournaments were held. The infirmary where Mantis found her some medicine to put on her burnt tail and the rooms where some artifacts from exhibitions were kept safe. She was also given the brief history of every one of the gleaming artifacts in the Hall of Warriors. And now that she got the chance to get closer she found that it really was a Dragon statue over a clean blue pool underneath it. Which Po referred to as 'The Moon Pool'. The place looked beautiful in its own right yet what really caught Leonne's attention was the hundred upon hundreds of stacks of scrolls that took the place of honor in the shelves someways behind the pool.

"What are those?" she had asked interested.

"Those are the Thousand scrolls of Kung fu. They contain information about Kung fu gathered over the centuries. Some were even written by Master Oogway himself"

Leonne at once turned towards Po surprised "What do you mean were? Isn't Master Oogway alive?" she asked nearly shocked.

It was Po and Mantis' turn to be surprised now. Here was one leopard who knew them all and yet she didn't know Oogway had passed away. It had been nearly five years now.

"Actually..no, he isn't" Mantis said awkwardly. "He died a few years back after choosing Po as the Dragon Warrior" he watched Leonne's face turn to one of sadness. "We got a portrait of him" he quickly said, trying to get the tour back on the road.

Po was watching Leonne as well "It's right this way" he said and began walking towards the large portrait that adorned the side wall of the Jade Palace.

Leonne looked up to see the Great Master in his Ti-Chi pose upon a a hill. All she could feel was sadness. She didn't even get the chance to meet the great master. She then bowed in respect to the Great Master in the portrait.

Po watched her the whole time. He wasn't sure why the leopard was suddenly so upset. She practically hadn't given a single expression since he had seen her. It was always the same blank expression, except if you counted the look of concentration or confusion she might have had a few times. And it seemed like smiling was the last important thing in her life. She hadn't even cracked one smile despite his and Mantis' constant polite joking tone.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked bringing a hand up to place on her shoulder.

She immediately flinched and Po pulled his hand away. She turned to look at him."I'm fine" she simply said.

"Okaaay. Well, Mantis can give you the rest of the tour from here. There isn't much anyway. I better go and start getting lunch ready. See you in the kitchen." he said waving to them and rushed out the front doors of the Hall.

Leonne and Mantis watched the open door of the Hall for a few minutes. Finally Mantis broke the silence "So shall we continue?" he asked uncertain.

Leonne nodded to him, the cue for the bug to jump off towards the next item. She followed him, but not before taking one more look at Master Oogway's portrait and letting out a deep sigh.

(In the kitchen)

Po entered the kitchen ready to make his Secret Ingredient Soup for their guest but was surprised to see Tigress sitting there already. "Looks like she's done training. Good, at least I won't have to wait long to talk to her." Po thought.

"Hey, Tigress" he said as he entered.

Tigress who was deep in thought, peeled her gaze away from the wall she had been staring at, with her arms folded. When she saw Po she gave a soft smile, a smile that made Po want to give her a hug, but he always refrained "Hey" she said, then gave a frown "Where's Leonne?"

"Mantis is giving her the rest of the tour. I had to get a start on the noodles." Tigress nodded. The frown still hadn't taken leave of her face.

Po busied himself with the pots and pans and placed the water on the stove to simmer. He was thinking of the best way to start a conversation. Finally he settled on asking just straight out. Not one of his brightest plans, but nevertheless.

"Hey..umm, Tigress?"

"Hmm"

"What do you have against Leonne so much?"

She turned in her seat to look at him. She looked angry, the light making her eyes flash as if to add effect. Po watched her standing still. Not sure what was about to come next. What he didn't expect was..

"Why do I have a feeling I've seen her somewhere before?" she asked.

Po looked at her surprised. He tried to answer "Well I'm sure you've seen plenty of leopards in your life Tigress, she could be just any one of them then."

"No that's not it!" Tigress said in a low yet forceful tone. "It's not like I've just seen her somewhere. I think we've had a one-on-one encounter before but I don't know how or where. It's so confusing" she said placing her elbow on the table so that she could support her head on her hand.

Now Po understood a little about Tigress' problem. She was frustrated because she couldn't remember where she had seen Leonne before. He knew Tigress never liked anything that was close to vague and this was just that. He sighed in relief.

"So you're not mad at her for fighting off those bandits?" he asked adding some carrots to his soup while working.

"Of course I'm angry about that" she said her voice rising "Here I thought we were finally going to get the chance to teach some scum a valuable lesson and she just had to be in the way. Why couldn't she have gone to find bandits in some other place?"

"Tigress, she was just helping my Dad. If she hadn't been there who knows what might have happened to him." Po said trying to make Tigress understand the situation.

Tigress scoffed "Yeah and bringing her along was necessary too, since it would have been bad for your Dad's business, if she didn't right?" Tigress said.

"Tigress!" Po almost shouted.

She stopped in her tracks. There it was again. She was letting her anger get the better of her. She immediately regretted what she just said. "I'm sorry, I-" she began.

"I know you didn't mean it, Tigress. But you got to accept the fact that Leonne is here for a few days. Master Shifu asked her to stay here himself."

"Yeah, I guess." she admitted, still not liking it. She was going to find out where she had met that leopard even if she would have to kick the information out of her. She was sure that leopard knew where they might have met. Or so she thought.

"Why do you think Shifu suddenly asked her to stay? I doubt he was happy when you told him you'd brought her along."

"Yeah he was pretty angry" he said tasting some of his soup "Needs more pepper" he muttered as he began adding the inadequate ingredient. "But he must have his reasons to ask her to stay."

"Do you know what it is?" she asked from behind. Po froze.

"What makes you think I know?" he asked.

"Well he called you after Leonne's special performance and you just proved you know by asking that question." she answered with her amber eyes fixed on him.

Po mentally slapped himself for his foolishness. But the damage was done. "Uhh...look Master Shifu didn't want me to tell anything just yet he-"

"Tell me Po" Tigress said standing up and walking towards him now. "Tell me what he said" she was barely a dozen inches away from him and Po found himself held by the spell of those eyes that could extract almost any information from him. "Tell her" one part of his head screamed "What difference would it make?"

"No" the other side that kept him sane said "Shifu trusted you to keep it in until he thought it was right. You can't betray his trust like that."

He tried to wrench his eyes away from the feline's "Tell me already Po" her voice came forcefully through his thick skull. His brain seemed to be working very slow.

"Hey, there guys" a voice suddenly came from the door of the kitchen. They both turned to see Viper entering with Crane. They stopped when they saw the two. "What's going on?" Viper asked worried her friends had been fighting again. Tigress didn't have much issues with Po's antics anymore and it was indeed a rare sight to be seeing them fighting again.

"Nothing" Tigress said flatly and walked back to her seat. She was going to get the information out of the Panda.

"You guys aren't fighting again, are you?" Viper asked taking a seat at the table.

"No" Tigress simply stated. Viper and Crane exchanged a look with one another and decided to leave it for now. Leaving both the panda and the feline thinking "Thank goodness she didn't ask anything more"

Po tried to make them forget what they saw by asking "Where are the others?"

"Monkey was just coming, I don't know about the-" Crane said when three figures entered the kitchen.

"I can smell Secret Ingredient Soup!" Mantis said in a voice like a lunatics.

"That's because Po made it, Mantis" Monkey said teasing the bug.

"I know he did." Mantis said jumping onto the table, his mouth watering. "What are we waiting for? Bring it already Po" he nearly yelled.

Po brought over the bowls he had filled with his delicious soup. "Here you guys go"he said sliding the bowls to each of his friends. He then went over with one bowl he hadn't sent towards a seat, where Leonne was sitting "I hope you enjoy it" he said placing it in front of her. She gave a nod and a thanked him just like the way she had done at the shop in the village. She knew she was going to enjoy it.

Even boring than last time. But as you now know Leonne is about to spar with each of the Masters. We'll see in the next chapter what happens. Thank you for all the feedback for the last chapter.

About my update rate. I'll have to say it might take up to a week to update each chapter. Sorry but I got a lot to do. But I'll try to update sooner if possible.

Please Do Review!