Playful

"I will be coming back in about a month," Tigress wrote to Po. Po sighed happily. It had been months since he heard from Tigress. She had spent a whole year in Qiándù. "My parents would like to see 'the cuddly little panda that's taking care of their daughter'." Po laughed. "The Master has been doing great work here." Po sipped his tea as he read the last part. "Also, Rem is bringing his girlfriend." Po spat up his drink all over Crane.

"Would you stop doing that!" Crane grumbled. Jia and Viper chuckled. Po quickly wrote back to her.

"There are lions in that village?" He asked her.

"No," She replied two days later, "He has fallen in love with one of the local tiger ladies." Po blinked several times when he read the letter. "I was just as surprised as you."

"How did this happen?" Po wrote to her. Then Tigress explained how Rem found the girl named Tiaopi.

The day after Rem got the message from Ulaghai, he spent most of his days walking around the city doing random errands for Tigress. She really did not need half the stuff she asked of him, both of them knew that. Tigress could see that Rem needed some space sometimes and she would send him on errands to clear his mind. Rem was walking through the village market. The trade industry had greatly boomed when the tigers were healed. The open market was flooded with people of all kinds. The tigers made very valuable high-class carpentry, metal, and other things. They built things to last. Rem casually walked to an old woman's shop to get some fruits for the others. The kind woman gave him the fruit free of charge, even after Rem insisted. "Thank you, very much," Rem replied. A part of him still thought it was his place to control people, but for the sake of Ulaghai he kept quiet about it. As he turned around to head back, he got a rude surprise.

"BOO!"

"AAHH!" Rem's basket of fruit flew into the air and landed on the ground. Thankfully they weren't damaged but Rem was mad. "What are you trying to do? Scare me to death?!" He shouted. The person laughed.

"Oh come on, a little surprise never hurt anyone," she replied. Rem looked at the woman. She looked about his age. She had a kind of almost evil mischievous smile. Her dressing was a little too loose. Her vest ended at the top of her mid-section. She had two earrings on the tops of her ears. Her long jade pants were ripped at the thighs in the front, letting anyone see her legs. She wore bright lipstick, light golden eyeshadow, and faint blush on her cheeks. (A/N I'm not very knowledgeable in make-up so sorry if this is a confusing picture.) Rem shook his head out a sort of trance when he looked her in the eyes. Crystal ice blue, the kind that seemed to pierce right through a person's soul. The woman laughed at his reaction. "What's wrong? Like what you see."

"I... I was just... caught off guard," Rem shot back at the tiger female weakly. As he bent down to pick up the fruit, something white and black tickled his nose. He lurched back and swatted the woman's tail away. "Would you cut that out!" She humorously chuckled. When Rem finally got all of the fruits into the basket, the woman took it from him. "HEY!"

"Hmmm, Guava, my favorite," She said biting into the fruit. She gave the fruit basket back to Rem.

"Why are you doing this?" Rem demanded to know. The woman laughed as she playfully tapped him on the nose.

"Because you look cute when you're angry. Almost like a little child," the woman smirked when she heard Rem's growl. "Well, I have to go. See you around." With that, she walked off. Rem glared at her, but he couldn't help but notice some of the people who she walked by whispering. He decided to dismiss it. He turned to the market lady and saw she had another Guava for him. Rem thanked her.

"Who was that?" Rem asked.

"Her name is Tiaopi. Please don't worry about her. She does mean well," The lady said, trying to defend her. "She's just a little-"

"Playful?" Rem joked. Tiaopi means playful in Chinese. The lady smiled. "Well, I'll remember that."

"Also, whatever you hear about her isn't necessarily true," The lady warned. Rem found that a bit weird, but journeyed back to the house anyway.

"So, how were the errands?" Monkey asked. Rem grumbled as he placed the basket of food on the table.

"These people are some trouble-makers," Rem grumbled.

"Why do you say that?" Gun-Ho asked. Tigress wasn't in the room at the time. Rem told them about the woman named Tiaopi. "Hehe, she's right you know."

"What the heck do you mean?!" Rem argued.

"Your anger has always been really annoying rather than scary. You look more like a frustrated child that doesn't have his toy," Gun-Ho said truthfully.

"I DO NOT!" Rem puffed up with hurt pride. Monkey laughed at the lion's face as Gun-Ho just smirked.

"You're right. It's like looking at Po when we told him Food Mountain doesn't exist," Monkey chuckled. Before Rem could respond, Tigress came back into the room with the leader of the village, Qiang.

"What's the matter?" Tigress questioned.

"Nothing, Rem is just struggling with some village girl," Gun-Ho smirked.

"I'm not 'struggling' with her. She's just annoying," Rem fired back.

"What's this girl's name?" Tigress asked.

"The lady said her name was Tiaopi," Rem answered. Qiang and Bai seemed grieved at the mention of her name.

"Please be patient with her. She does mean well," Qiang replied.

"I keep hearing that. What is it about that woman that everyone keeps warning me about her?" Rem asked. Bai and Qiang looked at each other.

"After Master Tigress helped heal the people, a lot of tigers from far away lands have come back as you already know," Qiang explained. "She seems like she grew up in a tough neighborhood. We're not really sure if she was actually raised by any parents."

"She's more of a street urchin than a poor person," Bai said bluntly. "Also, there are many... rumors about how she... gets money."

"She's a harlot?" Rem asked.

"No! Well, no one knows for sure. Most of the women speculate that she is, which is why they keep her at arm's length from their husbands," Qiang shook his head. "Like I said before, not everything you'll hear about Tiaopi is... accurate."

"We'll be sure to keep that in mind," Tigress spoke for the whole group. "But for now, we should be heading to the council. There's much to do," She sighed gloomily. This was a part of servant work that she dreaded. Po had to do the same thing in certain cities and he hated it as well. Political councils and other governmental systems wanted to have the servants of the Master present for certain topics. It was also good to make sure nothing crazy was going on. As Qiang, Monkey, Gun-Ho, and Bai went out the door, Rem held Tigress back.

"Can I talk to you, privately, Master Tigress?" Rem asked. Tigress smiled as she shook her head.

"I've told you just to call me Tigress," Tigress replied. "Is this about Tiaopi?"

"No, it's about my anger. Do you think it looks like a childish little kitten?" Tigress's eyes widened.

"What did Monkey tell you?" She immediately asked, "Because if he took my words out of context and-"

"What are you talking about?" Rem asked. Tigress blinked a couple of times with a blank stare before answering.

"I thought... you were talking about something else. Anyways, to be honest... yes, it does look a little childish," Tigress replied. Rem grumbled. "But it's better that way."

"Why? No one will take me seriously," Rem said.

"Is that why you get angry so much? So that people will respect you?" Tigress questioned.

"No, I don't know why I'm always this angry," Rem sighed. They were quiet for a while.

"It's better for people to think your anger childish than as a threat," Tigress said, looking at her hands, "Every time I let my anger get out of control, people would run away from me. I destroyed a thousand of those wooden soldiers at the Jade Palace when I was younger." Then she smiled. "I can relate to you very easily, Rem. In fact, I probably had the exact same problems as you're having."

"How did you deal with it?" the lion asked.

"Over the years, before I knew Po, I thought I had control over my anger. But when Po became Dragon Warrior, that anger resurfaced and I nearly made the chosen warrior leave. I would have lost my future friend and future husband had I not learned how to love and respect everyone, not just people who I thought were important," Tigress replied.

"Love, huh?" Rem repeated. Tigress placed her hand on his shoulder.

"It's not something that will come overnight. You have to ask the Master to show it to you and then apply it," Tigress explained. "If you need me I'll be at the council." Then she left. Rem stood up and went outside with the fruit basket in hand. He walked around the village. He didn't really know the village that much, so he decided to go exploring. Near the place where Monkey helped establish a poverty help center, Rem saw a lot of poor people sitting around looking miserable. Rem took some fruits out of his basket.

"Here, have something to eat," he said kindly. The people gratefully accepted it, and Rem went back towards the market to get more food. Then, Rem felt something tap him on the shoulder. He turned around and when he turned back around, someone was in front of him. "AHH!"

"My you are jumpy," The person smirked. Rem sighed in relief. It was just Tiaopi.

"Oh, it's you, Tiaopi," Rem panted, trying to steady his heart.

"Oh, so you've heard of me already," Tiaopi smirked. "Well, then you must know so much about me." Rem was about to say something but he paused. What he would have said probably would've actually hurt her. She means well, He thought to himself, replaying the words said by the older people in the village. Tiaopi spotted the fruit basket. "For me? Oh, you shouldn't have," She said, trying to take the fruit basket. Rem snatched it out of her reach.

"You're right, I shouldn't have," Rem remarked. Tiaopi pouted. Rem couldn't help but smile at her face. It looked a little cute when she pouted. "But since I'm feeding poor people, I should make you as an exception," Rem smirked, presenting an orange. Tiaopi smirked back as she snatched the fruit from him.

"I saw you feeding those people at the Poverty Help Center. What you did was very nice," She said, though the way she said it made it seem as she was trying to insult Rem.

"Thanks, I think," Rem said unsurely.

"So, why are you venturing this far into the great unknown, Remy?"

"It's Roho Moto!" Rem exclaimed. "Only my friends call me Rem."

"Exactly," Tiaopi smirked. Rem's face became emotionless as he glared at her. He wanted so much to just shout at her but that wouldn't help. Plus, that wasn't the reason why he was here.

"Actually, I was looking for you," Rem replied. Tiaopi stopped eating the fruit and stared at him. Then she smirked again.

"Aw, you missed me already?" Tiaopi teased.

"Actually, I wanted to say something to you," Rem said. Tiaopi rolled her eyes. She expected him to say something that she always heard before. She didn't want to listen, but he had given her food and she felt oblige to at least hear him out.

"Fine," She groaned, "What is it?"

"I'm... I'm sorry." Tiaopi's eyes widened.

Meanwhile, at the Jade Palace, Ulaghai, Po, and Master Shifu were eating lunch when Ulaghai jerked a bit in his seat. The hyena looked around and placed his hand on his head, looking greatly puzzled. "What's wrong?" Po asked.

"I don't know. I felt... a disturbance," Ulaghai said, "As if the world just suddenly stopped." Po and Shifu just looked at each other confused.

"What?" Tiaopi asked. She was shocked.

"I said I'm sorry."

"I mean, what are you sorry for?" Tiaopi clarified.

"I'm sorry for getting angry at you earlier. I shouldn't have lost my temper. I...I actually want to get to know you a bit," Rem replied, "So why don't we start over? I'm Rem," He said bowing. Tiaopi slowly bowed as well.

"Tiaopi," She finally replied. Then she smiled. "You're not half bad Remy."

"At least just call me Rem," Rem groaned. Tiaopi smiled cheekily. "How did you know my name?"

"Please, everyone knows about you and Master Tigress, the one who healed all the tigers here. You're practically a legend," Tiaopi said. She poked him in the head playfully. "Don't get a swelled head about it, though," She laughed. Rem swatted her hand away. "Why don't I repay you for the fruit?"

"You're not poor?"

"Who said I was?" Tiaopi smirked. There was a lot about this tiger that was a mystery to the village and to Rem.

"So, where do you get the money?" Rem asked. Tiaopi's grin widened as she tapped him on the nose.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," She cheekily said. Rem rolled his eyes as he walked with Tiaopi to the market. He couldn't help but smile a bit, though, with her... playful ways.

Continued...