And we get to the matter in between Max and Tigress' rivalry from another source.

Chapter 23: Concerns About Max and Tigress

Later that evening, Mako was busy looking after the panda infants and he was amazed by how much they've grown a little bit compared to when they were born and and where they're at now and it's amazing feeling to know that they're all gonna be a year old and he can hardly wait until they're growing up, but until that time comes, he's enjoying every moment of it.

Suddenly, he hears someone knocking the door and he noticed Xing-Fu Takahiro reaching his paws to him and with that, he picked up the youngest baby, carried him and walked downstairs very carefully to answer the door and by the time he answered, he saw Master Shifu standing there with Takami and he sais, "Master Shifu, Takami. What brings you two here?"

"Sorry to disturb your day, Mako." Shifu stated, noticing he's holding Takahiro.

"Oh, it's perfectly fine. You guys remember Xing-Fu Takahiro, right?" asked Mako.

Shifu looks at the youngest panda cub for a second and he does remember him very fondly and he said, "Yes, I do. How can I forget the time he left me a little present on my robe?"

Mako remembered that moment really well and he figured that Shifu was referring to the time that Takahiro urinated on Shifu's robe one time and Takami lets out a quiet snicker, which annoyed Shifu to no limit and merely glared at him for that amusement and Takami said, "What?"

"May we come in? We need to have a talk." Shifu said, turning back to Mako.

"Sure thing." Mako replied.

Shifu and Takami entered the house and Mako took them to the living room where the two masters sat down and Mako sat down while still holding Takahiro and he asked, "So...is it serious?"

"Very serious." Shifu replied.

Mako lets out a deep sigh and he looks at Shifu for a second and asked, "Is it an issue with Musaki or Arizona?"

"No issue." Shifu answered.

"Sage?" asked Mako.

"Not about Sage. It's the concern I have with Maximus." Shifu added.

Mako could tell that this has something to do with the 'rivalry' between him and Tigress and asked, "What did Tigress do this time?"

Shifu was surprised that Mako automatically knew about the issues between the two of them, but shrugged it off and said, "Max came over to the palace a few days ago and got attacked by Tigress again."

"What? For what?" asked Mako.

"Well...she still has that bitter resentment and jealousy towards your tiger son and wound up not only attacking him, but also your son's MMA trainer. The reason for that is because he hasn't been around the Jade Palace as usual and I had thought that it would give the two tigers some space, but apparently...Tigress cannot function her jealousy around Max, even when he's not physically present. He comes around every once in a while and something tells me that Tigress sees it as him slipping away after what had happened months before." Shifu explained.

Mako listened to everything Shifu said and he just lets out a sigh and said, "So...she misses him is what you're saying?"

"It's unclear whether she misses him or not, but she does have a tendency to function less when he's not around. But she has a very personal problem with not just Max, but from what I understand, his trainer at the MMA facility." Shifu answered.

"Jason?" asked Mako.

"Yes. She forced him to attack him over who's the better teacher to Max...which I find ridiculous, but Jason refused to do so. I could tell that he knows better and Max went out of his way and took the beating from her rather than letting Jason get defeated." Shifu replied.

Mako widened his eyes in shock for two reasons; that Max got attacked by Tigress again and also for putting himself on the line to defend Jason and it shows a bit of loyalty between the two of them and he had mixed feelings over those two situations. He wasn't sure whether he was disturbed by Tigress beat up Max again or proud of the fact that Max would do that act to defend his trainer.

"Why would Max take that risk?" asked Mako.

"Of all the times I've known Maximus, it seemed clear to me that at 10 years old, he knows the meaning of loyalty. Like he cares a lot about his trainer than his own life." Takami responded.

"And he still surprises me a lot." Shifu said.

Mako nods his head in agreement and said, "He surprises all of us. It's like he's a pillar of hope, compassion, strength and the act of a light in a ray of darkness."

Shifu nodded his head at that and he said, "But the real reason why we came is that I hope that you could sit down and talk with both of them and get this whole thing straightened out between the two of them. Max doesn't need to live in fear of Tigress' wrath nor does Tigress have anything to be jealous of, especially with a child. This whole thing needs to end before it gets too late. Because one of these days, it will get old soon when Max gets older."

"I agree. I'll have a talk with Max when he gets home tonight and see what we can do." Mako added.

"Very well. In the meantime, can I get you two anything?" asked Mako.

"No, thank you." Shifu replied.

Takami cleared his throat and he said, "We already got a bite to eat before we left."

Soon enough, in comes Samurai walking by the house and he sees his father, his baby brother cub Xing-Fu Takahiro and sees Takami and Shifu in the house and he said, "Hey, guys. What's going on?"

"Not a lot." Mako replied.

Takami was surprised to see Samurai coming in the house and he said, "Why aren't you at Mr. Ping's?"

"It's Wednesday. I always come to my house on a lunch break every Wednesday and Thursday." Samurai replied.

"Glad I asked." Takami added.

So...how will that talk go? You'll have to wait and see.