The Way Back
Chapter 10- The Dragon and the Tigress
Wow, I didn't expect that many reviews for the last chapter, not that I'm ungrateful it's just that I thought the previous story was more popular.
The day after talking to Mr Ping
Tigress slowly opened her eyes, she clutched Po's pillow tightly to get more of his dwindling precious scent out of it. "My heart will never belong to anyone else and I'll never forget you Po, but if I don't let go then I can't move on".
Tigress reluctantly got up out of the bed and made her way out of the room. She neglected to write any kind of note to inform Mr Ping that she was going back to the palace, she thought it was pretty obvious to the goose...and to anyone who actually knew her where she was going.
Tigress took one last look around Po's room before leaving it and then leaving the shop.
xxxxx
"M-master Shifu?" Po said in disbelief, it had worked! Standing in front of Po was none other than his Master Shifu who was currently staring open mouthed at him and dropped the tea cup he was holding, it currently lay on the ground in pieces.
Po set his box down carefully on the ground.
"Y-you're back" Shifu's voice was barely a whisper, he couldn't believe it, Po had returned!
Po rushed over and embraced Shifu in a massive bear hug, on his way over to Shifu he knocked over the box, the letters and assorted items spilled out onto the jade floor.
Shifu was taken by surprise by the hug, unlike Gongmen however he was unable to get out of it and just took the hug awkwardly.
"Yeah I am, believe me Master you're not gonna believe what I've been through, two whole years of research and failure was worth this".
Shifu eagerly pulled out of the hug "Two years?".
Po nodded "Yeah it's been two years since I last saw you and Tigress".
Shifu looked at him seriously "Po it's been nearly three weeks since you disappeared".
Po frowned "Well...that's annoying I guess, at least none of you had to wait that long for me to come back".
Shifu smiled on the inside "Same old Po, more concerned with everyone else's well being then with his own".
Po finally asked the all important question "So...how is everyone?".
"Well Crane and Viper are...one now" said Shifu, he said the sentence as if the concept was alien to him.
Po smiled "Finally, they've liked each other for so long, it had to happen sooner or later, so what about Monkey and Mantis?".
"They are fine Po, Mantis has started to mature, your death could have been an eye opener for him. Monkey had given up his pranks, while this is a godsend everyone has started to...miss it, annoyingly I know you and him will resume that soon enough".
Po chuckled "Yeah very true", he became serious, he dreaded asking this next question. "How is Dad holding up? I felt terrible about not seeing him before it happened, I don't want him to think I hated him or something".
Shifu shook his head "Your father was naturally beside himself when I told him of your demise although he has started to recover very slightly, he will never hate you Po, you may want to go and see him as soon as you can you've no doubt missed him".
Po nodded "Of course, he was going to be the second person I saw anyway"
"However there is one person who needs you desperately...and you know who it is" said Shifu grimly.
Po noticed that Shifu had gained a sad look in his eye, Shifu was trying to remain objective and it was the first time that Po had seen him struggle to remain so. "W-where is Tigress?" he asked nervously, Po was afraid for her.
Shifu sighed "She is not in the palace or in the barracks".
Po fell to his knees and began to wail in heartbreak "No! I can't believe I was too late, she left me".
Shifu chuckled "Po, I must admit I have missed your tomfoolery, no Tigress has not left".
Po blushed heavily "Well you can't blame a guy for thinking that, any guy would be upset at the thought of losing Tigress".
Shifu frowned at Po "Quite" he said sternly.
"Yesterday Tigress went to talk to your father and she has not returned...I assume she stayed in your room".
Po chuckled nervously, "W-why would she stay in my room Master?".
Shifu sighed "Po, since you've been gone she has almost shut down completely, she won't talk to any of the five and she told me she hated me yesterday".
Po gasped, everything he had been afraid of had come true. "No...have I lost Tigress?" he thought sadly.
Po became resolute "Master, I must go and find the woman I love and comfort her".
Shifu smiled warmly at Po "If anyone can help her it is you Po, the true Dragon Warrior".
Po gave a thumbs up and went to leave, "Oh and Po", Po looked over his shoulder at Shifu.
"It is good to have you back, I will see you tomorrow for training".
Po chuckled "Yes Master" he bowed and left.
When Po left the hall Shifu noticed the box Po had left behind, he wandered over to it and examined the contents, he smiled when he saw that most of it was letters to Tigress.
Shifu walked over to the Moon Pool and gazed at his reflection. "I hope he can finally bring peace back to the Valley...and to us all".
The image became distorted when a tear hit it, "Everything is going to be okay" Shifu said happily.
xxxxx
Po ran down the Thousand Stairs as fast as he could without falling down them...again.
When he reached the bottom Po sprinted towards his father's shop, he stopped and dived behind a nearby wall suddenly when he saw her walk out of the entrance with her back turned to him.
Po gulped nervously, Tigress started to walk in the direction of the bamboo forest, Po decided to follow her.
xxxxx
Tigress was worried about going back up to the palace, she knew what she had said to Shifu was wrong and she was afraid to face him, it was mostly out of guilt after all it had been the angriest she had ever gotten with Shifu and the subject of her anger wasn't even Shifu's fault.
So she decided to go into the forest to get some alone time, it may have seemed cowardly but she needed time before confronting her master and apologizing to him.
A shadow passed over Tigress, she turned to face it's source. Po was standing in front of her with an unreadable expression.
Tigress gasped and turned as white as a sheet , her heart also stopped momentarily in shock.
"Hi Tigress" said Po with a sad smile on his face, he took in Tigress's appearance, she looked awful, she had bags under her eyes, her fur clearly hadn't been taken care of as it was messy and raised up in places, to Po however she still looked beautiful.
Po also noticed that her eyes looked bloodshot and tired. "She's clearly been crying a lot, this is all my fault" Po thought guiltily.
Tigress just stood and blinked for a few seconds, "Oh god what's happening to me, I'm seeing him now. I can't take this", Tigress was in such a shock that she didn't notice Po's scent.
Po was concerned, Tigress hadn't said anything she just stared at him in disbelief, he cautiously reached out to her "Tigre-".
The tiger master cut him off sharply "You're not real" she murmured coldly. "I thought it was getting easier to cope", she unsheathed her claws "But it must be getting worse because now I'm imagining you".
Po let his paw hang in mid air, his breath caught in his throat and his heart stopped. "I-I am real" he choked on the verge of tears.
Tigress suddenly kicked him viciously, Po hit the ground hard. Tigress bounded over to him and got right in his face.
"YOU'RE NOT REAL!" she screamed, "THE REAL PO WOULD NEVER ABANDON ME!"
Po looked away shamefully, he hadn't ever dreamed of what the extent of the damage he had done would be until now.
He got back up shakily, Tigress's kick had badly winded him. The tiger master leaped back to make space between her and her "prey".
"Tigress I'm sorry that I left you but that was the only way I could save you and the Valley!" Po admonished.
Tigress snarled at him, "I finally found love and you denied me it, I-I hate you, j-just leave me alone", throughout the sentence Tigress had been getting more and more upset, she rushed at Po again to continue her assault.
Po realized he was going to have to convince her that he was genuine. He knew he was going to get hurt here so he prepared himself for pain.
Tigress threw a swift punch which Po barely dodged, even in the intensity of the confrontation Po had to admit he was impressed with how much Tigress had improved her form.
Po grabbed Tigress's second punch, twisted it behind her back and pinned her up against a nearby rock.
"Listen to me Tigress! If there was any other way then I would of done that instead, please stop and just listen to me" he pleaded.
Tigress ignored him and using all the strength in her legs kicked off of the boulder, the force of the kick pushed Po onto the ground. Because he was still holding onto Tigress she ended up on top with her back still to him and with Po still grasping her arm.
She broke free of his grip, growled in his face and started to whale on him.
Po held his arms in front of his face to protect himself, he knew plenty of ways to get out of this situation, unfortunately they all required him to hurt his opponent and he figured he had already hurt Tigress enough.
Tigress without even realizing it started to cry, Po felt a droplet hit him in the face.
"Tigress you're crying" he said simply.
She stopped for a second and put a paw to her face, Po had never seen her cry before and he was shocked by her raw expression of emotion.
Po saw an opening and took it, Po knew he couldn't reason with her so he just did what his heart told him to do. He immediately embraced her in a bear hug, squeezing her to the point where she could not move a muscle, Po remembered that this was exactly what he had done the day they confessed their love to each other.
Tigress gasped and started to violently struggle against him, she kneed him in the stomach and tried to headbutt him. Po knew she wouldn't get out of his hold the panda was just too strong so he just took her abuse.
"Let go of me panda" she hissed, while Po showed nothing on the outside on the inside she was actually scaring The Dragon Warrior quite a bit, Po had never seen her so...emotional.
Po knew what he had to do, he quickly kissed Tigress with all of the love and feeling that he could muster.
Tigress stopped her struggling and melted into it, "I don't care if it is Po or not I...I need this".
Po had missed her so much and he tried to communicate it through their lip lock, unfortunately as living beings they started to desperately need air. Tigress and Po reluctantly pulled out of the kiss and breathed deeply while staring into each other's eyes.
"Now do you believe me?" Po said softly, Tigress refused to give any indication that she had heard him, she just looked at Po with clouded vision, she was clearly affected by Po's kiss.
Po decided to talk to her "I've spent two years trying to get back to the Valley...back to you Tigress, you're everything to me and you'll never know how much I missed you while I was stuck in that place, but I want you to know just how much I love you and the thought of seeing you again was the only thing keeping me sane".
Po started to cry "Please come back to me, I'm sorry for all the pain I put you through".
Tigress gasped at the sight of the panda crying, she felt his tears hitting her chest.
Tigress finally also noticed his scent, "He's real! By the gods my panda is back".
"Put me down Po" Tigress said softly.
Po complied and set her softly on the ground, he looked at her with tear stained eyes and the slim hope that he had gotten through to her.
She suddenly ran at Po with full speed and tackled him to the ground. She looked straight into his jade eyes and before he could say anything she pressed her lips to his in a long and passionate kiss.
Tigress pulled away and started to sob loudly into his shoulder, Po just held her.
"Are you OK Tigr-"
Tigress cut him off, "Po, I am fine...these are tears of happiness".
Po just smiled, they stayed like that for a while.
Tigress finally got up and picked Po up by the paw.
Tigress saw bruises starting to form on his forearms and chest, Tigress looked guiltily at him, "Po...I'm sorry fo-".
Po put a finger to her lips "It doesn't matter, for what it's worth I'm sorry for breaking your heart. While I spent two years trying to get back here to you, you spent three weeks mourning for me so I understand...I would've done the same thing if it had been you".
Tigress smiled at his understanding, "So do you want to find the others? I'm sure that they'll want to see that you've returned...although I don't think that they will attack you in a manner akin to the way I just did".
Po nodded "No I think we should" Po started to snicker childishly "Although I don't think Monkey will try and make out with me".
Tigress blushed but couldn't resist laughing heartily , all of her grief and sorrow was expelled through those laughs and she could feel her happiness returning to her, "Po you still haven't changed".
Po shook his head "I wouldn't dream of it".
He grasped her paw and held it tightly, everything was going to be alright now.