~Kitty~

This idea is from the combined minds of me and Cryztalix. Mind reader! Lol XD AND I WANT MY TIGRESS BACK! I'LL EAT YOUR CHEESECAKE! Oh wait... I gave it back... Well... Still!

Sorry for that readers XD Inside thing...

Anyway, enjoy :)

~Kitty~

Xue sneezed, then coughed. She took a bite of her noodle soup, then repeated the process.

Tigress had been correct in her assumption. Xue had caught a bad cold. She was currently in the tiger's room. Xue didn't have her own room, so she usually bunked with one of her parents or uncles. Or auntie. Tigress enjoyed when the little snake would stay with her, but this time, it was not happy. Xue looked even paler than usual, which seemed to be impossible. But nothing was impossible for the little albino, which she proved almost every day.

Tigress sighed and grabbed the now-empty bowl. "I'm going to get you some more soup, okay sweetie?"

"... Okay," Xue sniffled. "But hurry. I's-"

"I."

"R-Right, I bored."

Tigress cast a worried glance at Xue. It was bad to leave the little snake alone when she was bored, because she would usually wander off and get herself into trouble. "Alright, I'll be right back."

Tigress walked quickly to the kitchen, hoping that Xue would stay put. 'It's so hard watching after her,' Tigress thought. 'How did Mantis and Viper get used to it?'

Stirring the soup slightly, Tigress couldn't help but let her thoughts wander. 'Xue is such a needy child. She needs to be watched all the time or she'll get in trouble. That reminds me, I need her to practice her ABCs.' She sighed as she made her way back to the snake. 'Just because she's needy doesn't mean she's a bad child, though. I wouldn't trade her for anything. And besides, it's not her fault. She didn't choose to be born like th-'

Her thoughts cut off as she saw that her bed, once occupied by Xue, was empty. The bowl crashed to the ground and shattered to pieces, soaking the ground by her feet. She did not notice this. With wide eyes, she dropped to all fours and ran toward the Hall of Heroes, a sudden feeling of dread washing over her. She didn't even realize that was where she was going; she just let her instincts guide her.

~Kitty~

Xue blinked.

She didn't remember going to the Hall of Heroes. The last thing she remembered was lying in bed being bored to death. Then she had found herself on the steps of the building. Deciding that it would be more fun than just laying in bed, Xue slithered the rest of the way up the stairs. Gazing at the doors, she was confused. Gong gong never left them open, so why was it cracked?

When she walked in, she immediately froze.

Boar bandits were in the Jade Palace with what looked to be brown potato sacks, stuffing them full of artifacts. Knowing they were bad "aminals", Xue slowly slithered backwards, hoping that they didn't see her.

No such luck.

The door slammed behind her, and a shadow loomed over her small form. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw a large boar, larger than the others. He laughed and smirked. "Look at what we've got here, boys."

Everyone looked to her, and her stomach dropped. These were not nice peoples. She shivered.

"Hey, isn't that Master Mantis and Master Viper's daughter?" a boar asked.

The big boar looked at her and smiled evilly. "Waddo ya know, it is."

She yelped when he grabbed her. She had never been grabbed like that. Her family cuddled her, not squeezed her. Even when they gave her hugs, it wasn't that bad.

"With her as a bargaining chip, we could get control of the whole valley!" he shouted, smiling evilly.

Xue didn't know what a "bargaining chip" was, but she knew that anyone that wanted to take control of the valley was bad to be with. When he tried to put her in a sack, she knew she needed help. Struggling as hard as she could, she took in a huge gulp of air and shouted with all her might, "AUNTIE TIGWESS!"

~Kitty~

Tigress was almost there. The steps were just in sight. Just as she was at the bottom of them, she heard a terror-filled scream from her niece. "AUNTIE TIGWESS!"

Panic shot through her body and she jumped all the way up the steps. Bursting through the doors, she saw a sight that froze her in her tracks. A large boar was trying to stuff Xue into a potato sack while his friends stole the items of the Hall of Heroes.

Crouching into her stance, Tigress roared. That gained the attention of everyone. Xue's eyes lit up at the help that came, making her stop struggling. The huge boar shouted, "Attack her!"

A rush of about fifteen boars hit Tigress hard, but she didn't care. This was her niece's life on the line, not hers. The claws were coming out. Tigress's pupils narrowed to slits as she roared again, attacking.

The boars didn't stand a chance. One swung at her with an axe, but she dodged, making go into another boar's skull. The one that swung at her was then on the ground with claw marks on his stomach. Another tried to come at her with a sword, but Tigress stole it from him and rammed it into another. Grabbing the boar's hoof that once held the sword, she spun him around, taking him and two others out.

'Six down, nine to go,' she thought with a snarl.

She lept into the air and came down on two boars' heads, knocking them unconscious. One grabbed her arms and restrained her. She growled and kicked him where no man wanted to be kicked. One tried to punch her, but she grabbed his hoof and twisted his arm. She stopped when she heard a large CRACK! as the boar's arm broke. Snarling at the other four, she crouched into her stance. They glanced at each other with wide eyes before leaving empty-handed. That left the large boar, who still had Xue in his large hooves. She looked scared to death.

"Let. Her. Go," Tigress said lowly, her eyes flashing dangerously.

The boar, too shocked that his men were fleeing or taken down, dropped Xue to the ground and ran. Xuw continued staring at Tigress, wide-eyed from what the tiger thought was shock from the whole situation.

"Xue," Tigress said gently as she approached her. Xue whimpered and slithered away from the shocked tiger. "Xue, it's me. Auntie Tigress."

Xue slithered further away, frightened. She had never seen anyone fight like that. Her auntie looked like she could murder. Her mother and father told her to stay away from people like that.

Tigress felt tears come to her eyes as she realized that Xue was afraid of her. She felt her heart break as Xue curled up in a dark corner, gazing fearfully at her. 'It's Bao Gu all over again...'

Tigress ran from the room, flying past Po and Master Shifu as they came through the door. Shifu ran after her, telling Po to clean the place up.

Po sighed and went to get a boar, but paused when he heard sniffling. His head turned to the corner and froze when he saw Xue. Fearing she was hurt, he ran to where she was and pulled her into his lap. "Xue! Are you hurt? Talk to me, sweetie!"

"A-Auntie T-Tigwess hurt the aminals!" Xue wailed. "S-She scared-ed mes!"

Po then realized what happened. Xue must have wandered off and walked in on the bandits, and to protect the snake, Tigress must have lost it. He knew that when the tiger's family was in danger, her inner predator sometimes showed. Xue must have thought Tigress would hurt her, even though she would never do that.

"Listen Xue, your auntie loves you very much, and she would never hurt you."

"B-But-"

"Did she hurt you?"

"N-No, but she... hurted them..."

"To protect you," he said softly. "She only did that so they wouldn't hurt you, and they would have. Tigress only wants the best for you, so she would do anything to make sure nothing happens to you."

"S-So she wouldn't hurt m-me?"

"Of course not," he smiled. "Now, why don't you go find her while I clean up here?"

"Alwight..."

Po sighed as the doors closed. "Great, I'm stuck with clean up!"

~Kitty~

"Tigress, stop!"

Shifu jumped in front of his daughter as she ran away, making her stop. She stayed on her knees with her head bowed. "She's afraid of me," she whispered.

Shifu tilted his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Xue... She saw me attacking the bandits... She thinks I'll hurt her now," Tigress said, her voice breaking.

"But you would never-"

"It doesn't matter!" she shouted, tears in her eyes. "I was only trying to protect her... Just, just... trying... It's B-Bao Gu all over again..."

Shifu grabbed Tigress in a hug, petting her behind her ear. She wrapped her arms around him and lay her head on his shoulder. "My sweet daughter..."

They stayed in their embrace for longer than the other remembered ever hugging anyone. Tigress gently let her tears fall as Shifu pet her head. She had only wanted to protect her niece, but had made her afraid of her. It had opened an old wound that was only recently starting to heal. Everyone afraid of her... Everyone was afraid of her no matter where she went, no matter how hard she tried. Everyone would always be afraid of her...

"... Auntie Tigwess?"

Shifu and Tigress separated to see Xue looking at them timidly. "I'll leave you two alone..." Shifu said. He kissed Tigress's marks on her forehead and left.

"Xue..." Tigress started. "I-I'm so sorry that I scared you... I just-"

"-wanted to p-protect me?" Xue finished for her, hugging the tiger. "I's understands now."

Tigress thankfully hugged her back. "Thank you for understanding..."

"Thank you for s-saving me," Xue smiled.

Tigress wiped her eyes as Xue sneezed. Tigress smiled. "Why don't we get you back to your bed? You're still sick, little missy."

Xue giggled. "I want- want gong gong to p-play me a song. Will he play me a song?"

Tigress smiled. "I bet he will."

~Kitty~

So... sappy! Drowning in the sap! Bleh... Well, how was it? Please review! And thanks for the idea that Xue be afraid of Tigress, Cryztalix! I hope I did an okay job!

No flames, please. Don't like, don't read. But if you do flame, do it in a nice way! Constructive criticism welcomed :) Flames? Not so much...

~Kitty~