A/N: No author's note this chapter, just the quote of the chapter :)

Enjoy the chapter!

Quote of the Chapter:

"And I can't help but notice, you reflect in this heart of mine."

-Justin Timberlake

Song-Mirrors

Album-The 20/20 Experience

Chapter 19

Proposal

Nearly 3 Months Later, Early in the Morning at the Student Barracks

Po woke up bright and early to begin his training regiment which he had resumed shortly after he had returned to the Palace after the entire ordeal with the Komodo Dragon Tyrant Akuma. Thankfully, this time Po hadn't woken up with a nightmare, but rather woke up early thanks to the sunlight that slightly illuminated his room. He rose from his bed and exhaled, almost sighing happily as he thought to himself 'today is the day that I ask her...I'm ready for this, but I just don't know if she'll say yes...' This thought worried him slightly, what if she really didn't say yes? Many thoughts swirled through Po's mind as he contemplated whether he should or shouldn't ask the female Tiger the question he had wanted to ask her for a long time. But he decided he would focus on the matter later and would go and train to reduce some of the stress, so he slid on his white training vest and his black training slacks and opened his doors to head on his way. As he passed Tigress' room he smiled as he thought 'she will say yes...I know it.' And then he left to go on his way towards the palace gates being sure not to make much noise as to not prematurely wake anyone.

As he was on his way towards the Palace gates, a voice called to him "Dragon Warrior!" Po then turned his head to see where the voice came from, and as he turned he saw Tai Lung jump from the top of a tree branch and landed on the ground next to Po. "Good Morning Master Tai Lung, may I ask why you're up so early?" Po asked politely to the Snow Leopard. In the past two months, Po along with the help of the others had helped to assure the public in the valley of peace that Tai Lung had been redeemed and was now helping to protect the Valley of Peace from villainy. He was rather proud of the work they had done, for it had allowed the Leopard a second chance which had been much appreciated by Tai Lung who could now go into the valley without the citizens being skeptical. Then Tai Lung replied to the Panda "well, I woke up early so I could catch you before your morning training routines." Po raised and eyebrow and asked "oh really? So what do you need?" Tai Lung chuckled as he responded "you haven't already forgotten, have you?" Po was confused by this, he couldn't remember promising anything to the Leopard any time so-oh wait...Po then remembered exactly what it was that the Leopard was referring to and he replied "ahh yes, you want to have a rematch against me?" Tai Lung nodded and replied "precisely Dragon Warrior, if you have the time this morning..." Po laughed and said with a smirk "of course, it'll be a good training exercise." Tai Lung just smiled and said "don't get cocky Dragon Warrior, I've improved much since our last fight..." Po still laughed as he said "I would expect so."

The two Warriors then headed to the arena just outside of the training hall where they both got into their fighting stances and prepared themselves. "Are you ready to lose Dragon Warrior?" Tai Lung said with a confident smirk. Po smirked back and simply said "your move." The two warriors stood about 20 feet from one another and were both ready for the other to make a move. Tai Lung then lunged to attack the Panda, running on all fours to increase his speed. And within a second, Tai Lung reached his opponent and launched his left fist towards the Panda's head trying to overwhelm Po with his incredible speed. But Po was not so easily caught off guard for he reacted quickly and ducked his head and rolled out of the way successfully dodging the Snow Leopard's attack. Tai Lung was slightly frustrated with this as he had underestimated the Panda's abilities, so he continued on the offense, however it was no use as Po's reaction time was too great for Tai Lung to land a successful blow on the Panda. Po on the other hand was merely avoiding the Leopard's attacks to find a good opportunity to strike, and it seemed he would get that chance soon as Tai Lung was growing more frustrated after every missed swing he took. And surely enough, eventually Po's strategy worked as Tai Lung was tiring slightly, but enough for Po to make his move. As Tai Lung sent another powerful jab towards Po's head, Po ducked just enough for the punch to barely miss his head. And in the blink of an eye, he responded with an epic uppercut to the Leopard's jaw sending Tai Lung flying up 10 feet up into the air and landing hard. (Think Ryu or Ken's Shoryuken from street fighter) The massive blow to his jaw really hurt the Snow Leopard but he kept going, getting off the ground with a kip up and immediately attacking the Panda again. But Po just kept dodging the blows and retreated back avoiding getting cornered. Tai Lung wasn't finished yet though as during his time training with Oogway, the tortoise had taught him many superior fighting techniques that he hadn't known before, and so the Leopard went back to his training. Po then dodged the Leopard's last punch and answered with a powerful double handed punch (similar to Tigress' double palm strike) right at Tai Lung's face. But for a change, Tai Lung dodged this strike by side swiping very quickly and responded by hitting the Panda in the gut with a powerful kick and hitting Po in the side of the head with a strong single handed punch. These blows sent Po back a couple of feet and he backward somersaulted to recover, he then spit out a tooth that Tai Lung had knocked out and wiped his mouth. "You really have improved much since our last fight..." Po spoke to the Leopard with a bit of a smile. Tai Lung chuckled and replied "indeed I have Dragon Warrior." Po laughed at this and said "don't get ahead of yourself though." As he said this Po loosened his shoulders and got back into his fighting stance. Then without warning, Po charged the Leopard on all fours so quickly that Tai Lung couldn't react in time and was tackled to the ground by the enormous Panda. As Po pinned Tai Lung to the ground he threw several punches at the Leopard's face each of which were dodged and the Panda's fists hit the ground so hard that it cracked the ground. Tai Lung new he was in trouble so he rolled away from the Panda and got back up and into his fighting stance. But before he could recover again, Po rushed him and landed a solid punch right in the Snow Leopard's face where he was unprotected. This Punch sent Tai Lung back and he skidded on the ground which gave him slight rug burn on his back. Dissatisfied, Tai Lung growled angrily and he unsheathed his claws preparing to attack once again. Po too unsheathed his claws and growled exposing his sharper teeth, not backing down from the Leopard's attempt to intimidate him.

Both warriors now resembled angry feral animals now as they growled loudly and stared each other down not taking their eyes off each other. After a solid minute of attempting to intimidate the other, Tai Lung and Po lunged at each other roaring as they did so, both with the intent to pummel the other to the ground. Tai Lung went to scratch the Panda with his claws from the top, however Po anticipated this and grabbed the feline's paws crushing them slightly. Tai Lung yelped in pain as Po twisted his paws upward making it very uncomfortable for the Leopard as the Panda was very close to breaking either of his wrists. So he pulled his arms back to free his hands and tried to punch the Panda in the face as quick as he could. But Po ducked underneath the punch and used the opportunity to do a low leg sweep that tripped Tai Lung and forced him to fall on his back nearly knocking the wind out of him. Po then quickly got up and jumped up and went to punch the Leopard while he was down, but Tai Lung recovered and rolled out of the way just avoiding the Panda's punch which hit the ground hard. It was now very evident that Tai Lung was struggling as he was now panting after having to deal with the Panda's immense strength and speed. He got up from the ground and immediately had to dodge another powerful blow from the Panda. He leaped back to finally make some distance from him and his opponent. As Tai Lung landed far from the Panda he was panting hard as he had used much stamina to avoid getting knocked out by the Panda's attacks. Po relaxed himself and allowed the Leopard to catch his breath as he too recovered some stamina, he then mocked Tai Lung as he said "had enough yet?" Tai Lung just laughed off the Panda's cocky attitude and he replied "I must say Dragon Warrior, I never expected you could be such a lethal fighter, it's no wonder you are the hero of China..." Po just nodded and replied "shall we continue now?" Tai Lung got into his fighting stance and nodded.

The two warriors then rushed each other, both sprinting on all fours with great ferocity. As they reached each other, there was a great struggle as the two pushed against each other as a testament of their immense strength. Neither could seem to overpower the other as each seemed equally strong, however Tai Lung knew that the Panda would eventually overpower him as he was getting tired once again, so he came up with a plan. He kept distracting the Panda using his strength to keep pushing the Panda back, but then he used his tail and tripped Po by pulling one of the Panda's legs forward making him fall on his back and making a loud 'Thud!' sound.

As Po's back hit the ground the wind was nearly knocked out of him but he looked up and reacted just in time. Tai Lung had intended to stomp right on the Panda's chest to finish him off, however Po reacted just in time using both of his hands to catch the foot that would have crushed him. He then used much strength to push Tai Lung's foot up and then he launched the Leopard away from him. Tai Lung hadn't expected the Panda to react so quickly and he had just lost all of his momentum, as Po had gotten up. He then made one last stand and attempted to hit the Panda with a powerful spin kick, however Po still had much more in him as he braced himself for the Snow Leopard's attack. Po successfully blocked the attack using his right hand to stop the kick while maintaining a firm stance to avoid getting knocked back. Tai Lung was then worried as this was his last opportunity to knock the Panda down and it had failed, he then began to retreat back as he was very tired. But Po did not give him the chance to get away, so he ran at Tai Lung and body checked the Leopard hard. Tai Lung still stood after this hit, but Po didn't stop and he got ready to use a move that he had attempted to perfect recently. Po then ran at Tai Lung who seemed to attempt to block whatever he was going to do, however the Panda then used a move he had never seen before, Po performed a hurricane kick (similar to Ryu's Tatsumaki sempukyaku from street fighter) that hit Tai lung 3 times until the Leopard fell to the ground. Po was astonished that he had managed to pull the move off as he panted trying to catch his breath after the tiring fight. But he noticed that the snow Leopard was still on the ground but was breathing, he then walked over to Tai Lung and offered a helping hand up, to which the Leopard took the Panda's paw and said while panting "I've...Never seen...That move...Before..." Po smiled and he replied, "that would make sense, since I'm the one who invented it." Tai Lung just chuckled as he replied "you know I'm going to want another rematch right?" Po laughed as he replied "I wouldn't have it any other way." The two warriors smiled at one another and then they respectfully bowed to each other.

"WOW! THAT WAS AWESOME!" A youthful voice shouted seemingly out of nowhere. The warriors then looked over to the young Tiger Cub who was trying to imitate some of the fighting moves that he had seen the warriors perform during their fight. They then also noticed Tigress who was standing next to the Cub looking at the two warriors with her arms crossed and shaking her head. Po and Tai Lung just shrugged their shoulders and both said "what?" They didn't know why the female Tiger was shaking her head at them. "You're going to teach me how to do that Po." Tigress said as she walked towards the two with Hao following closely behind. She was wearing he golden robe with red lotus flower designs, this was Po's personal favorite attire that she would wear. Po replied "show you how to do what? Beat Tai Lung in a fight?" As Po said this he heard the Snow Leopard growl slightly and he heard Tigress chuckle. "Not that, that move you just executed, you're going to show me how to do that." She replied as she now stood next to the two warriors with Hao at her side. Po laughed as he replied "okay, but you know I can always teach you how to defeat Tai Lung if you want..." Tai Lung then interrupted "you know I can hear you Dragon Warrior..." Po responded "oh I know you can." Tigress laughed at the two warriors and she said "just the move Po, I already know how to beat him." Tai Lung then interrupted again, "what!? I seem to remember beating you along with the rest of your little 'team' last time we fought." Tigress chuckled as she replied "that may be true, but it's been years since we last fought and I have also improved much over the years." Then out of nowhere Hao interrupted and said "Oh Ya! Mamma's going to fight Tai Lung!" Tigress looked down at the enthusiastic Cub and chuckled as she replied "no Hao, we aren't going to fight-" "Oh really Master Tigress? And here I thought you always wanted a rematch with anyone who has beaten you. What ever happened to that person?" Tai Lung interrupted her with a smirk. Tigress then growled as she replied "now who told you that?" A faint giggle was heard as she said this and Tigress looked over to the Panda who was covering his mouth trying not to laugh. "Po...When you teach me this new move, would you be so kind as to be the target when I try it out?" As Tigress said this Po interjected and said "what!? That's not fair!" Tigress smiled in content as she got exactly the reaction she had wanted out of the Panda, "is it? Well, I don't suppose you want what happened to you last night to happen again do you?" Po then looked very nervous and he scrambled as he said "ah! No! Please don't ever do that again! I'll do anything!" Tigress smiled and then she replied "then it's settled, you will be the test subject after you teach me this new move." After she said this, Tigress said "alright Hao, why don't we take you to Mr Ping's?" Hao replied happily "alright Mamma! See you later Po!" As her and Hao walked away, Po waved back at the Cub and then he slumped his shoulders and sighed. Then he heard the Cub say to Tigress as they walked away "hey Mom? What happened with you and Po last night that Po is so afraid of?" At this Tigress laughed and replied "oh don't worry about it Hao, let's just call it 'a grown up matter'." Tai Lung then began to laugh at Po who was covering his face with his left hand in embarrassment, Po then without warning just punched Tai Lung in the shoulder, making the Snow Leopard fall as he said "Ow."

8 Hours Later at the Tournament Arena

The sun was setting across the mountains, making for a beautiful yellow and red sky. Po was in the midst of teaching Tigress his hurricane kick which he had used as a finishing move on Tai Lung earlier that morning. They had been at this for nearly an hour, ever since Tigress had returned to the Palace with Hao after the Cub had spent the day down into the noodle shop with Mr Ping and Li Shan. Po had changed into his most formal clothes as he wore his vibrant green tunic and his black slacks and now wore the new cloak that he had acquired during a trip he had made to the capital of China Beijing when he went to meet the emperor. Right now, he was observing Tigress' technique while also slightly blushing at how graceful and beautiful her movements were as she attempted to replicate the hurricane kick that Po had been teaching her to do. At the moment, she was merely going through the motions and seemed to be mastering the move quickly until the Panda called to her "looking good Tigress, remember the more momentum you get from the approach, the more power you will have in the 3 kicks." Tigress smiled and nodded as she took Po's advice and began to try a running start whilst performing the move. Po was sitting down on a rock that he had pulled over and he was admiring the female Tiger as she practiced. But though he seemed calm and happy, his mind was clamorous and filled with thoughts 'should I ask her now? Or should I ask her today? Gods she is so beautiful...' Those were just a few thoughts that swirled through the Panda's mind. But just then, he noticed a group of peach tree leaves blowing in the wind in a very distinctive pattern, almost as if they were a message to him. And then his thoughts were interrupted by a Tigress who spoke to him "Po? Are you alright? You seem distraught." Po shook his head trying to snap himself out of his trance and then he replied "oh! Um, yeah! Everything is fine Tigress, I was just...Thinking..." Tigress wasn't convinced by this, but she decided to ask the Panda a new question "okay Po...Anyway, I was wondering why you chose this place to train. I mean, we could have trained at the training hall or say the Ironwood forest, but here?" Po thought to himself 'okay...I'm going to do it, this is as good of a time as any...' Po then stood up from the rock he was sitting on and he held both of her hands in his as he said "Tigress, do you know why this place is so special to me?" Tigress' mind starting going crazy as she though 'wait, what is he doing now...' She then asked "well, isn't this where you were officially declared the Dragon Warrior?" Po nodded and responded "it is, however, it is also the place where I met you for the first time..."

Meanwhile on Top of a Nearby Building Around the Palace Arena

"Is he really going to do it!?" Mantis whispered to all of his comrades who were watching the spectacle from on a rooftop on a building at the side of the tournament arena. Crane then whispered back to him "I really hope they do to be honest! It would give me a reason to arrange another wedding!" At this Viper giggled and whispered "you know Crane, you really should take Shifu's advice and just pursue a career as a wedding planner! I had never seen you be such a perfectionist as when you were arranging Po and Lu Shi's wedding." Crane then replied "hmm, maybe I should do that, I guess it couldn't hurt to give it a try." Monkey then interrupted and said "Po told me that the ring he got her was crafted by the most skilled jewelers in all of China, and that he got the ring in Beijing during his trip to see the emperor a month ago!" Mantis then responded quietly "wow! Did he ever say how much he paid for the Ring?" Monkey then replied "oh yeah! Po told me that the jewelers were offering the Ring for 6 million Yuan (Almost 1 million in USD) but the emperor gave it to him for free as a gift for consistently saving the country!" "6 million Yuan!?" All the others said nearly yelling, but kept their voices down so that the two wouldn't hear them. "Gods Po is so lucky!" Mantis said almost jealously.

Back Down at the Palace Arena With Po and Tigress…

"Tigress, I love you more than anything in this world, and I have wanted to ask this question for a long time..." Po then knelt on the ground with Tigress standing right before him as he was still holding both her paws, but then let go of her left paw as he used his right hand to reach behind him to get something. Tigress was almost speechless right now, she couldn't understand what Po was doing and why he seemed so formal 'what is he doing? Why is he acting so dramatic and formal?' But just then she noticed that the Panda was pulling back a box shaped object from behind him and he now held the object before her. 'That isn't what I think it is...No...' Tigress thought, but her thoughts were interrupted as Po let go of her other paw and he opened the box and revealed a glistening silver ring with amazing engravings of what looked to be a Dragon and a Tiger surrounding a Yin and Yang symbol. And at the center of the ring was a beautiful red diamond.

"Tigress...Will you marry me?

For Tigress, time seemed to slow to a halt as she now looked down upon the Panda who she loved more than anything who was proposing to her. Tigress couldn't even think as the moment was so overwhelming. Tigress remained speechless for nearly 4 seconds which was starting to greatly worry Po 'oh no...' Po thought. But then, tears formed in Tigress' eyes as she struggled "Po...I..." She said with a stutter as a million thoughts raced through her brain. She then replied sounding excited "I...Yes!" As she said this, Po smiled while not saying a word as he then took the beautiful ring and placed it on her left paw's ring finger. (Ring finger is the fourth from right on the left hand) Tears now began streaming from Tigress' eyes as the Panda slid the ring onto her finger. He then stood up with a wide smile and he also began to shed tears. Tigress without warning, compulsively pressed her lips against the Panda's and the two engaged in a passionate kiss. Po then lifted the Tiger into the air and swung her around as the two still kissed. After nearly a minute, Po let the female Tiger down in front of him and was completely speechless as he stared into the Tiger's beautiful amber colored eyes. "Po...I...This Diamond...It's the same color as my-" Tigress said looking at the right on her finger before she was interrupted by Po who said "your eyes. They are the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen, so it seemed fitting..." The two just starred at each other right in the eyes as the sun began to set over the valley.

A/N: And here it is! I personally loved writing this as I was able to take a lot of inspiration from watching my older brother get engaged to his wife last year. Now I bet some of you are wondering what's going to happen after this chapter? Well, for one, I plan to write one last chapter to finish this story off and then after that, I plan to make at least 2 spinoff stories about different characters, and lastly I plan to make a sequel to this story! So if you like the story or want to stay informed for updates favorite or follow. And please

Review!