A Tigress/Shifu one shot. Before you all start retching, it's a father-daughter relationship, not the romantic kind. Just to be clear. Anyway, I came up with this one shot after learning that there was going to be an LOA episode called 'Shifu's Back'.

"Faster, Tigress!" Shifu snapped. "You are not twisting your body far enough!"
Six year old Tigress did not reply, and simply continued to follow her master's instructions and flip constantly across the rim of the jade tortoise bowl. The goal of this exercise was to develop your ability to flexibly traverse a moving object without losing balance and falling off. So far, Tigress was improving; she managed to flip around the rim of the bowl for six minutes before finally misjudging her landing and toppling into the bowl. When she emerged, her expression was one of self-anger and apologetic sadness.

Twenty years ago, Shifu would have congratulated Tigress for doing so well so far, and urged her to try again. But after Tai Lung, he had vowed to never shower any of his future students with praise again.

"Enough." Shifu stepped forward. "Come out of there, and I'll give you a demonstration."

Tigress did as she was told, leaping down from the bowl as Shifu leapt on.

"Now watch me…" Shifu took a second to make sure his balance was perfect. "Tigress, are you paying attention?"

"Yes, Master." Tigress's wide amber eyes were fixed on the red panda standing on the rim of the jade tortoise.

"Good. Now watch my movements carefully…" Shifu took a deep breath as he prepared for the lightning fast series of flips he was about to perform.

All of a sudden, he leapt in a wide arc over the inside of the bowl, twisted his body to flip in midair…

And cried out as a sudden, stabbing, searing pain shot up his spine. As his back seized up, Shifu collided with the rim of the bowl and bounced inside, rolling to a stop at the bottom.

"Shifu!"

In her fright, the young Tigress had forgotten to add 'Master' to Shifu's name. Five seconds after Shifu had fallen, Tigress had leapt onto the rim and was now staring down in concern at her master. Shifu was lying on his back at the very bottom of the bowl, staring up at Tigress with a mixture of pain and anger.

"Master Shifu, are you alright?" Tigress asked in terror.

It took a while for Shifu to answer.

"I'm… fine!" He said through gritted teeth.

"What happened?" Tigress asked.

"My back seized up!" Shifu snapped.

"Do you want me to get help?" Tigress asked. It was a habit of hers to always ask permission from Shifu before she did anything.

"No! Give me a minute…" Shifu attempted to push himself up, but collapsed back to the bottom of the bowl with a shout of pain.

"Master, are you stuck?" Tigress asked innocently.

"Stuck?" Shifu glared up at Tigress as he again failed to get to his feet. "Me… a kung fu master of fifty years… stuck? Don't be ridiculous, you silly girl! Who ever heard of a powerful master being stuck at the bottom of a giant bowl… do you honestly think that just because I'm old that I can't get out of a stupid jade semicircle… yes, I'm stuck."

Shifu turned bright red beneath his fur as Tigress fought the urge to giggle.

"I'll get help!" Tigress turned to leap off the rim.

"No!" Shifu snapped again. "Grab one of the bamboo staffs and come back here!"

Tigress leapt off the rim, and Shifu's sensitive ears caught the sound of her small footsteps as she ran over to the weapons rack and grabbed a staff. Then she reappeared on the rim with the staff in hand.

"Right, now hand one end of the staff down to me, and then pull me up!"

"Uh…" Tigress hesitated. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Master?"

"Are you questioning your master?" Shifu snapped.

"No, no!"

"Then do as you're told and hand the staff down to me!"

Tigress lowered one end of the staff into the bowl. Despite its length, she still had to lean forward so that the staff was low enough for Shifu to reach.

"A bit more, Tigress!" Shifu said.

"If I lean any more, I might lose my balance!" Tigress replied.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll lean a bit more!" Shifu growled.

Tigress blinked, then leaned forward just enough so that Shifu could wrap his hands round the very end of the staff. He felt a twinge of guilt for speaking to the girl so harshly, but the twinge of pain in his back was stronger.

"Alright…" Shifu adjusted his grip. "On the count of three, you pull up, and I'll pull to help you."

Tigress nodded silently.

"One…" Tigress braced herself. "Two…" Shifu tightened his grip on the staff. "Three!"

Tigress was about to pull when Shifu, in his agitation and impatience, yanked on the staff abruptly.

Tigress squealed as the sudden pull caused her to lose her balance and fall headfirst into the bowl.

Shifu's eyes widened with alarm as Tigress fell in his direction.

"Holy-oof!"

The air whooshed from his lungs as Tigress landed flat out on top of him, her knee accidentally making contact with his stomach.

"Sorry!" Tigress yelped and made to get up, but the movement sent fresh waves of pain through Shifu's back, and he impulsively grabbed her small arms and pulled her close.

"Don't move!" Shifu gasped. "You're making my back spasm!"

Tigress immediately stopped moving, and for a couple of minutes, the two lay in silence, one on top of the other, at the bottom of the jade tortoise.

After a while, Shifu glared at the small tiger girl lying on top of him, ready to give her the scolding of her life.

"Tigress…" He began, his voice dripping with venom.

Before he could continue, Tigress burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" She wailed. "I'm sorry! I didn't do that on purpose! I'm such a stupid idiot!"

Shifu opened his mouth to agree… but then faltered as he felt Tigress's tears drip down onto his robes. He realized that in her torment, Tigress had wrapped her arms round him and was sobbing into his chest. She looked so vulnerable, whimpering with guilt and self-loathing.

A feeling of intense guilt flooded Shifu's body, even overcoming the pain in his back.

What was he thinking, scolding Tigress for something that wasn't even her fault? It was his darn fault for yanking so hard on the staff while Tigress was unprepared!

His angry expression faded.

"Tigress…" He repeated, his tone now calm and soothing.

"I'm such an idiot! I'm so stupid!" Tigress didn't even look up at him. Shifu guessed that she was afraid to see the angry, disappointed expression that she was probably expecting.

"Tigress…" Shifu repeated a little louder. "You're not a stupid idiot. You're just a little girl."

Those very words, the words he had told her once before during their first meeting at Bao Gu Orphanage, finally ceased Tigress's cries. She looked up at him with wide, tear stained eyes.

"But…" she started.

"No, Tigress. It's my fault that this happened." Shifu spoke gently. "I shouldn't have pulled so hard."

It was a while before either of them spoke again.

"Uh…" Tigress paused. "We're going to be stuck here for a while, aren't we?"

Shifu simply nodded.

"Should we try yelling for help?"

"A kung fu master shouting for help?" Shifu raised an eyebrow. "It'll never happen."

Tigress fell silent.

Hours passed.

Eventually the sun sank over the horizon and day turned into night.

Tigress yawned and blinked at the injured red panda stuck beneath her.

"Master Shifu…"

"Yes?"

"Do you think we should call for help now?"

"Absolutely not."

"Oh." Tigress yawned again. "But it's getting really late…" She lowered her head onto Shifu's chest. "… and I'm supposed to be in bed by now…"

"Oh no!" Shifu stared. "Do not fall asleep on me!"

Tigress raised her head again.

"I'm sorry! I'll try to stay awake."

Another hour later, Tigress's eyelids were starting to droop. Her body started to relax as she slowly began to give in to her need to sleep.

"No, don't go to sleep!" Shifu said again. He was about to repeat himself in a louder voice when he caught sight of Tigress's head resting on his chest. Her eyelids were nearly shut, and her mouth was half open, her soft breath reaching through the fabric of his robes and warming his skin. She looked absolutely adorable.

"Tigress…" He whispered, but Tigress had already given in to sleep.

Shifu sighed and relaxed his neck, the back of his head thudding lightly against the cold surface of the tortoise bowl. Now he was well and truly stuck until morning.

But still… the sight of the little girl calmly sleeping on his body filled him with a feeling he had never felt before. It was a warm feeling that blossomed in his chest and made him smile just a little. He had not felt such a feeling in thirty years, since the last time he had held a young Tai Lung close to him before he became a teenager.

What's wrong with me? Shifu thought. Why has this warm feeling returned after so long? Is it because of her or… and then it hit him.

It was because he loved her.

Not the romantic kind of love. It was the kind of love that a typical parent felt for his child. The kind of love that Shifu hadn't felt since finding an infant Tai Lung on his doorstep so long ago…

No, the idea was ridiculous.

He had just taken Tigress in as a student; that was very different from finding Tai Ling on a doorstep and taking him in as his son. There was no reason for him to love her as a daughter…

But you adopted her from an orphanage, didn't you? So doesn't that technically make her your daughter?

"I'm such an idiot…" Shifu whispered.

He gazed at the little girl sleeping peacefully on his torso. Then a sudden idea came to him.

After Tai Lung's incarceration, Shifu had vowed to never show any of his future students affection or praise, so that they would never feel special and swell up with corruptive pride. But Tigress was sleeping right now.

Would it really hurt to show a little affection now, while she was currently unaware of what he was doing?

Very slowly, his arms moved up Tigress's sides, but well away from her hips. The child stirred slightly, causing him to freeze, but she remained fast asleep. Shifu's arms slid over her back, so now he was lightly embracing her. That was what he had originally planned to do… but Tigress looked so innocent and adorable that the temptation was too much.

Shifu tightened his embrace a little more, pressing his adoptive daughter deeper into his body…

"Ah, there you are."
Shifu nearly jumped.

Suddenly materializing on the rim of the bowl was an ancient tortoise holding a peach wood staff.

"Master Oogway!" Shifu whispered loudly, causing Tigress to stir again.

"The palace servants have been looking all over for you." Oogway spoke. Then he caught sight of the sleeping Tigress and a grin appeared on his face.

"This is not what it looks like!" Shifu pleaded.

"Oh really?" Oogway raised an eyebrow. "It looks very much to me that your back seized up and Tigress fell on top of you while trying to help."

Shifu blinked.

"Do you need some help, Shifu?" Oogway asked.

"Yes, I would." Shifu sighed. "Get Tigress out first, but don't wake her."

And so Oogway, with the grace and agility expected of the creator of kung fu, gently lifted Tigress from the bowl and held her safely in the crook of his arm.

"I'll be right back, Shifu." Oogway whispered so as not to wake her. "I just need to get her to bed."
Oogway disappeared. He reappeared a few minutes later and lowered the end of his staff down to Shifu.

"Grab on and I'll pull you out." Said Oogway. "And try not to yank this time."

Shifu scowled and grabbed the end of the staff. Oogway effortlessly pulled him out and then supported him as they made their way to Shifu's quarters.

"We'll get your back treated in the morning." Said Oogway. "By the way, would you mind telling me why I found you embracing the young girl, after you had explicitly vowed to never show affection to your students again?"

"Yes, I would mind very much." Shifu muttered.

Oogway chuckled knowingly.

Probably not the best ending.

Anyway, remember what I said about requests! And don't forget to review!