A/N: Ahhh, what's this? Another chapter? Good thing I caught it for you and tamed it. So here it is! Enjoy.
Tai looked across the expanse of the Thread of Hope. The tall rock formations coupled with the vast expanse beneath covered in a perpetual mist created what seemed to be a giant maw, waiting to swallow them up. The long chain of rope bridges swayed every so slightly. The boards on the bridge seemed well-made enough, but there was always the small chance that a board could be rotten. Then it could break and send them hurling downwards into the abysmal depths. Tai shook his head, clearing away the thought. He was sure that wouldn't happen. He repeated the scene of him falling though from the ledge in his mind. At least now they actually had something, not a precarious edge, to hold onto. A bridge, regardless of its style, was ten times better than any shallow outcropping of rock. Ignoring the actual bridgework, the tall tiger looked at the actual formations themselves. They were smooth and tall enough to rise above the mist. Greenery could be seen growing on the tops of a few of them. When one the bridges couldn't connect to one of natures pillars, the architects made a pillar, fashioned out of sturdy stone. Entirely, the rope bridges, the massive expanse of space, and the rock formations together were named the Thread of Hope. It had been crossed plenty of times, yet the first time crossing it was always the most frightening – even if they didn't seem scared.
Tai marveled at the structure itself, from a pure analytical point of view. The amount of work that would have been put into constructing something like this, not to mention the ingenuity needed at times, was astounding. Tai stepped forward to inspect the base of the rope bridge. The stone had been here all along, none of it had to have been imported from elsewhere. The stonemasons instead chiseled it out, creating a very strong support for the ropes that were tied to it. He saw the bridge sway more than usual and looked up. Tigress had already started walking across it without a care on her face. The rest of the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior began to cross as well. Mei went next, her paws locked onto the handrails. Shang stepped forward nervously behind Mei, the Golden cat too was gripping to the handrails for support against the bridges movement. Tai wasn't afraid of heights but the past experiences and just the immenseness of the network of bridges made him a bit edgy. Tai prayed consistently to his ancestors as he took the first steps forward and the ones following that. He really didn't want to fall or slip on this.
"C'mon, you don't need to go that slow," called Mantis from ahead, walking effortlessly on the rope handrail, his pincer-like feet clinging to the twine so that he could even walk upside down if he so wished.
"Easy for you to say," said Shang. "You guys have been on this thing over and over again. I'm sure of it! I'll bet you if you six had to fight on this, you wouldn't even think twice about it!" Shang tested a rather green looking board, it was safe.
Tigress grimaced. They had fought on the Thread of Hope and had, much to their bitter remembrance, failed. The nerve attacks Tai Lung had inflicted had immediately blocked all chi and rendered them paralyzed. Only by Tai Lung's overconfidence were they able to get back home – much thanks to Crane – and had been revived by Master Shifu. Now they walked the path the snow leopard had walked before on his way to ravage the Valley.
A board creaked underneath her weight. She shifted her weight slightly and the board was relieved. She heard Po talking to Shang. Those two were becoming very good friends. Shang's rigorous military training was almost nonexistent around Po. Both shared a fatuous love of whatever they did like. Something told Tigress it had to be food. Food was the one thing that could get the attention of almost any man. Food. That actually sounded good right now.
"Hey, Po, divvy up some food. A light lunch."
The rotund panda happily obliged. He pulled out an piece of fruit and a bean bun.
"Pass those back to Tai, will ya?"
Soon, everyone was munching away on their meal.
"Ahem, Po?"
"Sorry Tigress," said Po, reaching out and handing her some food. Po had been in a hurry to get to his own. She turned around to receive the food. Po dug around in the knapsack; a tricky task since the bridge was wobbling a bit... no, they were on one of the platforms now. As Tigress's paws started to close around a pear, she saw Tai sprinting forward.
What does he want? Tigress asked herself. She saw the rest of the Furious Five, except Po, he was looking for a bean bun, eyes widen and words started to form on their lips. She took another step forward, turning to face the direction she was going. There was nothing there. She started to fall forward. Her training had let her deal with situations like this. She twisted as quickly as she could, but she lost her footing and missed. Her paws grab out frantically. To her surprise, she grabbed hold of something warm and soft. She looked up and saw Tai's face and half of his torso leaning out, his paws wrapped around Tigress's wrists. He stared her. He had just saved someone's life! Excitement filled him. He had done another thing useful and he felt that much better.
"How are we going to get back up?" asked Tigress as she readjusted her grip on his paws. Her feet felt nothing but the air beneath them. She had fallen last time and Crane had been there to catch her but this time it wasn't Crane, not even someone in the Furious Five who had saved her. It had been this tiger. This tiger named Tai had saved her. Tai looked over his shoulder.
"Po has hold of my legs, we should get pulled up quite soon. And all the better too, you are crushing my wrists."
Tigress smiled. Tai's dry humor, when ever he attempted it, was funny...in that bleak, serious manner. She felt herself being pulled upward, in short, jerky movements. Finally, her head was over the edge and she saw Po and the rest of them pulling Tai, which in turn pulled Tigress. She latched her feet to the edge rock and with a powerful burst, she sprung herself upwards, flipping over the edge, landing perfectly on her feet. Tai still lay on the ground, a confused look on his face. One moment he had been looking at Tigress, then the next moment she was gone and now standing beside him. He scrambled up – after Po let go of his legs – and brushed himself off.
"Why'd you fall, Tigress?" asked Mantis. "You never, well almost never, loose your balance."
Tigress shrugged nonchalantly though deep inside, she wondered that herself. Why had she fallen? It wasn't like her to get that distracted and, well, fall off a cliff. If it hadn't been for Tai...
She huffed. Tai, that lanky tiger standing behind her, now looking down at the mist, had saved her, beaten her at a match, and had made her tell more about herself that anyone before. It seemed the same with Tai; he seemed to try to hide the Gu-Yi as much as he could, but it clearly gnawed at him constantly. Almost like the red eyes that haunted her dream last night. No. Tigress frowned. The red eyes hadn't appeared in her dream last night. All she heard were two voices in the darkness. Whispering voices – yet not like the voice of the red eyes – no, these voices were friendly and inviting. She couldn't hear anything they said, yet it made her feel safe. She shook her head; she couldn't believe what she thought one of the voices sounded like: Tai's. He seemed to be popping up everywhere and it was pissing her off.
"I think that is a bridge," said Mei who had wandered over to look over the edge.
"It is," said Po. "The Furious Five and Tai Lung fought on the bridge. Heard it was an awesome fight. Even if they did loose." He added this last part quietly so that the rest of them didn't hear.
Shang's eyes widened.
"They fought on that?"
The Golden cat's voice was awed. The very idea of fighting on a bridge went against everything his military training had taught him. Yes, Master Kamon had told him otherwise, but it was still astounding to even contemplate that six masters had gone head-to-head on such a narrow battlefield.
"What happened?" asked Tai. He seemed as amazed as Shang.
"We lost," said Tigress bluntly. She didn't want to make excuses. They had failed and that was that. It was in the past and the past couldn't hurt them – could it? "At the beginning we cut the ropes thinking we could control the fight to our advantage." She pursed her lips. "Didn't turn out how we planned it."
"I'll say," said Monkey. "Stupid nerve attack."
"Okay, so, don't mean to ruin your vacation down memory lane, but how are we going to get across now? I don't think jumping is an option. And flying, except for you Crane, shouldn't be thought of!" said Mei.
Tigress shook her head slowly in affirmation but it quickly changed.
"Mei, you are a genius."
"I am?"
"Yes. Crane, can you fly down and grab the end of the rope. Then you can bring it up to the other side and retie it to the pillars."
Crane nodded and went straight to it. He dropped over the edge without a moment to loose. The wind whistled through his feathers and streams of air glided off the tips of his wings forming a ghostly trail behind him. Down and down he dove. He stopped, letting his own momentum downward let wind fill his wings, slowing him. He had already passed the end. He flapped upward before taking hold of the end of the bridge. The rope handrails were gone, but the bridge was all they needed. His wings flapped speedily as he gained altitude. As the remains of the bridge moved upward with him, he saw the other side. Grasping the end of the final bridge even tighter, he alighted on the other side, using his weight to keep down the bridge. Mantis leaped across followed by Viper. The three of them together should be able to keep the bridge from collapsing as the first two cross so that way they could let the heavier ones cross ("Po," coughed Mantis). Shang made a grand, sweeping gesture.
"After you, my cloud," he said.
Mei rolled her eyes and walked steadily across, taking care not to rock the bridge to much. Her balance was uncanny and she made it across without too much swaying. Monkey moved swiftly across, his agility letting him land without too much weight on the bridge. With five others on the end side, Shang walked across. His bulk made the bridge rock back and forth causing him to have to pause in the middle to the let bridge settle down. That left three to cross. Tai copied Shang's gesture, though less dramatic.
"After you?"
Tigress folded here arms across her chest.
"You're afraid to cross," she smirked.
"Yes," said Po and Tai in unison.
Tigress gave them both a unbelieving look as she stepped confidently onto the bridge. At the end, with a deft flip, she landed on the other side without so much as making the bridge move a bit.
Po patted his stomach. Tai was just a bit taller than him, yet he was positive he weighed more than him and Tigress combined. Maybe throw in Monkey as well to the cumulative weight. Tai got the subtle message, yet refused.
"I think you should go first. Test it, make sure its safe for others."
Po gave him a deadpan stare.
"Yeah, about that. You weigh, like, a lot less than I do so how about you cross first and make sure its safe."
Tai really couldn't argue against that. He stepped out onto the bridge. The unfamiliar feeling of no handrails left his paws groping for something to support him. He closed his eyes, thinking back to what Master Kamon had taught him. He, with the turtles help, had walked around the forest without ever touching the ground – with his eyes closed. He had moved from branch to branch without ever opening his eyes. Kamon had told him it would help him focus his chi and let him master feats capable of only kung fu warriors. At first, Tai had been skeptical. Yes, he had seen his ancestors and Dragons but walking around the foliage on trees with your eyes closed using only chi seemed impossible. Kamon had proved him wrong again. Using Kamon's successful example, he had walked – very slowly – around the forest without ever looking around. He felt very accomplished when he had finished it. Now here he was, using the same techniques he had been taught. He felt his footpaw touch warm stone. He opened his eyes. He was safe. He let out a deep breath.
"Wasn't that scary now, was it?" asked Tigress. She knew where they were going now. Home was close; she could feel it. Her only worry was that the wolves had beaten them to the Valley of Peace and had already moved on. She hated the thought, but it was a possibility.
Po made his way to the other side with everybody using their weight as a ballast. As the tubby panda made it to them, they tied the ropes back as best they could.
"We're going to have to fix that for travelers," said Viper.
"After the wolves are dealt with, that can be on the top of our list," said Crane. "I'm sure the wolves are more important than anything else right now. They actually pose as great as a threat to China. Like Shen did."
Tai nodded, though he didn't know who Shen was. From what he had been able to glean, Shen was a peacock who used gunpowder to create a cannon and had tried to take over China. Fortunately – though unfortunately from the peacock – he hadn't gotten passed Gongmen City and had been stopped by Po. And got crushed by his own cannon. Tai rubbed the back of his neck. He itched there.
"Shall we get going again?" he said.
There was a slight mutter of conversation as they turned from the Thread of Hope and went back on the trail to the Valley of Peace. Tigress walked by, looking at the bamboo that fringed the trail with a mix of wistfulness and bitterness. It seemed so short ago that they, the Furious Five, and run through these things to confront Tai Lung. But that was all over know, Tai Lung was no more and here they were on another mission to save the Valley once again. But, hey, that was their job wasn't it? As they continued on, the red, Chinese sun sank slowly, bringing the end to the day. Tigress had become wary of the night. The red eyes haunted her sleep constantly; she woke up constantly feeling less than refreshed. But tonight was going to be different. Last night, she hadn't had that dream. Instead it had been those other two voices. Maybe tonight would bring a blessed, and much sought after, restful sleep. She prayed fervently to whoever might be listening, may it be Xiaofang, Senlin-Mu, or one of her ancestors for the peaceful sleep. The dark, clammy feeling that red eyes brought with it started to come over her, but she shoved it away with the thought of Xiaofang roaring. The thought alone seemed to frighten away the feeling. It was ironic that she had heard of and learned of Dragons, but never had she thought that they would show themselves. Here she was now, a Dragon as close as a friend to her as the Dragons would allow. Immortal they may be and she was, of course, a mortal, but having an immortal as a friend was always a plus.
A twig snapped in two. Tigress's ears perked up, swiveling in place to detect where the source of the sound had come from. She saw Tai had broken off a branch of a tree. It was a cherry blossom tree, its flowers just starting to bloom. The tiger showed it to Mei and Shang. They looked at it curiously.
"What's up with them?" asked Po a little too loudly.
Tai turned, holding up the branch.
"Sorry," he said. "We had...have...cherry trees in Mengyou City, but we've never seen any with this sort of pattern on the leaves. Ours are a bit different."
"Oh," said Po. "How'd you notice that? I've passed by lots of trees yet didn't notice anything different about them."
Tai shrugged. "I enjoy learning and when I went to the University, I was taught about plants a little bit. You have to remember I enjoy studying things and if something catches my eye, I will try to understand, observe, or whatever else you do to things you like."
Po nodded his head. He understood perfectly – about the watching part, not the plant part. Why would someone want to study plants other than herbs and spices? Herbs were for medicines and spices were for food. The other plants weren't all the important for his daily routine.
I guess he must like plants, thought Po. That was the only reason he could think of for someone to want to study them. Now kung fu, that's something everybody should study.
The steep climb before they could finally get into the Valley of Peace rose up ahead of them. The tall mountains were surrounded by hills that transformed into the massive bulwark that kept the little village inside the Valley safe.
As they climbed, Tigress recognized the path they had started to take when they had evacuated the villagers when Tai Lung was coming. They had not walked over this ridge when Tigress remembered the golden shockwave that blasted out of the center of the village followed by a loud, rushing wind. Almost as if she was back there, with the little rabbit in her arms, she felt the remnants of the golden chi magic that had blasted through here and had shaken the leaves of the tree. It had proclaimed the Dragon Warrior's victory! She looked over at Po. He was dutifully walking along and – like usual – talking with Shang. Mei stood next to him, the tips of their tails wrapped around each other's just slightly. Viper slithered beside Mei. The two were in a heated debate with Mantis over the best remedies for aches and pains: acupuncture or herbs and medicines. Her heart warmed when she saw the lights below, spread out like fireflies floating softly over the Valley. This was home and she was back!
"Is that the Valley of Peace?" asked Tai.
"Yes," replied Tigress. "And up there is the Jade Palace." She pointed the Palace out to him; it rested on the top of the stairs, welcoming all.
"Do you rule the people?" asked Tai.
Tigress looked at him. "Rule?"
"Yeah, are they your subjects? Do you have servants? Or, I hope you don't, do you have slave labor? What kind of system do you run here?"
"Okay, I'm confused. Crane, can you get over here?"
The bird flapped over. Tai asked the question again. Crane shook his head.
"Oh, we forgot. Mengyou city has some sort of monarchy, correct?"
"Uhhh, yes and no. We used to have a strict monarchy, but then come some for a bureaucracy with the ruler at the head of it all. Over time, it declined and the other nobles basically become the leading faction. My dad, the ruler, still had power, but it was growing thin and almost nonexistent," said Tai. Disgust at what his cities government had become clear in his voice. He realized the cold, hard truth of his last statement. Right now, his parents had no power.
"Makes sense that you would think that," said Crane. "Here is a lot different."
"The villagers usually are able to settle disputes among themselves, but if anything big happens, that's were we come in," said Tigress, catching on to what Tai asked. "As for servants, slaves, and subjects...we have none and never will need them."
"An interesting idea. Part of your kung fu training I assume. Master Kamon covered it a little bit. I can understand partially." Tai paused. "But I won't say that I didn't enjoy servants from time to time."
"Never had them and I don't care about servant," replied Tigress. She made a sour face. "Besides, I wouldn't want someone to dress me or bathe me. It's my privacy and I would like to keep it that way."
"Never thought of it like that," Tai mused. He started to drift away but changed his mind and continued to keep step with Tigress. He came almost a bit too close for her comfort, but decided against telling him to move away.
Tai was slightly excited. He was nearing his destination: the Valley of Peace! Finally he had done something one might call heroic in his life. They had delivered a message of extreme importance to the famous Furious Five and Dragon Warrior and were now going to assist them in saving their own village. This was something that he would be proud of. Not to mention he would rescue his parents as well. He had been formulating a plan all along, speaking with Shang about it. During the battle – they were sure there was going to be some form of conflict – Tai could make his way over and free them. How excited would they be to see him after all this time! He could only imagine the look on their faces as he freed them! Maybe, just maybe, he would return to Mengyou City and try to get rid of the wolves oppression there. Tai shook his head. Where had he gotten that ambition from?
Better take one step at a time, admonished Tai to himself. Slow down and enjoy the sights as well, he added looking at Tigress.
Tai admitted to himself, and maybe Shang, that he was stricken with Master Tigress. Of course, he was slightly shocked by his own attraction for her. He had never thought himself to be a romantic one, yet here he was with butterflies in his stomach.
Wish they would fly out, he thought.
The male tiger was very wary that the possibilities of Master Tigress actually having mutual feelings for him were something around the number zero. He looked up at the stars.
"Help me," he muttered, still looking up. He felt his foot paw catch on something. He tripped. Putting out his paws, he caught himself. Getting up, he brushed himself off. Everyone was looking at him. He blushed.
"I am sort of a klutz," he admitted. He glanced at Tigress. She wasn't smiling. Was that a good thing? Was she sensitive that he was okay? Or did she think that he had done that on purpose. Hell – er, best not use those words – or did she think he was a klutz. A 'nerd' as Curo had called him. He pushed the thought of the rhino out of his mind. He was far away from him and hoped to never see that blasted rhino ever again. Shang's eyes met Tai's. The Golden cat winked.
There is no hiding secrets from you is there? He thought. Shang was good at guessing at some like that. Probably because he had a girlfriend himself – not to mention she was also his second best friend as well. He caught up with Tigress. He could almost smell the faint scent of her fur reach his nose. He breathed deeply, feigning relaxation. What was he doing? This was not a time to get all trippy over a female tiger. No matter how lovely she was.
Shuttup! Tai almost yelled to himself out loud. One would think that I would have more control over this. He stopped rebuking himself. His mothers words came back to him. She could be right; there might be someone out there for him and she, Master Tigress, might be the one. He snorted. What was he thinking. Well, he was thinking happy thoughts for once. Besides, Xiaofang had told her to look out for him! His eyes drooped slightly. It could very well be that it was just so that way the warning could be conveyed and he was a rather unique individual. He doubted there were many other tigers with crooked tails. But what about Senlin-Mu? He had said one night, when Tai had been summoned by him to his forest, to look down in the water. There was nothing at first. Then, the sister Dragon of water's face – Shui – had appear in the water. She told him to look further in the water. There had been a grey mist. In the center of the swirling haze had been Tigress. He had questioned what he was seeing. Senlin-Mu had replied that it was a dream he was seeing. Often a pair of red eyes would haunt her dreams. Sadly, it wasn't just a nightmare. Something would come up that would ruin the Furious Five, but it wouldn't be until later. Just his presence frightened them away. He had scoffed at such a proposition yet the Dragons had been serious. His expression had simply asked how. To that, they gave him no answer. Something's were simply too mysterious for ever a Dragon to explain or even know. Things were too secret for even the Jade Emperor to know; but those were rarer anything in the world. A simple goodbye had followed and he had been sent back to sleep. Now he was here, after a few days of traveling, nearing the Valley of Peace with Master Tigress.
Shang let go of Mei's paw, unwound his tail from hers as well, and walked over to Tigress. He coughed to get her attention. Tigress looked at the Golden cat with slight exasperation at his method of getting her attention.
"So, uh, how are the defenses at the village? What form of garrison do you have? Is there a circulated guard or is there just a militia of volunteers? I would like to know beforehand so that way I can get an idea of how to defend the village. Speaking of defense, what sort of defense do you use? From what I see here you don't have watchtowers or walls, so you must have trenches, right?"
Tigress, along with the rest of the Furious Five and Po, gave Shang a rather confused look. What was he talking about? Defenses?
"Hey, Shang," said Po, "we don't have any. After all, this is the Valley of Peace. We don't get armies knocking on our door that much."
Shang's jaw hung loosely as he gave them an incredulous look; which, in turn, morphed into a rather comical expression.
"You are telling me that you have no defensive structures or anything like that?" roared Shang. He was rather dumbfounded that they had no defenses. "Then what do you use?" he spluttered.
Po shrugged. "We usually fight them off. No big deal. A bandit here and there really doesn't stand a chance against our awesomeness."
"Besides that point, what about if something bigger came?" asked Shang. He was still trying to figure out how you didn't have defenses of some sort! Offense as your defense wasn't such a good strategy, not by any means. Though it seemed to work for Master Tigress.
"Nothing ever did, so we didn't prepare for it," said Viper.
"Until now."
"Until now," agreed Tigress.
Shang tapped his chin. His tail swished agitatedly. "Then what did you use in case the villagers were in danger?"
"We would evacuate the Valley before something or someone like that could come," supplied Crane. Shang nodded. This was something he wasn't prepared for.
"When we get there, we're going to have to immediately move the villagers out. Do you have any reinforcements available? Like a militia?"
Shang was a loss for words when they shook their heads no. He saw a large farm for rice. They were nearing the village and already he could see what they meant. There was nothing that could even be called defense. A pig farmer looked up and waved a cheery hello to them. The farmer ran to a gong and started banging on it. The loud, deep reverberation echoed throughout the night air.
"Funny, I don't remember that being there," said Monkey.
"Must've put it there," said Mantis. "Probably to tell anybody who is listening that we are coming back."
"Awesome," breathed Po.
Tai dipped his head away from the farmer as the pig stared at him hardly. He moved away from Tigress's side. The pig still stared at him with piercing eyes. He backed away from her as well. Tai wasn't sure if that was what the pig was telling him to do, but he just felt awkward standing that close to her when they were heading into her home.
As they neared the cozy village, they could already see the citizens trickling out, some holding lanterns about their heads while others tried to shush their children. A sudden roar rolled over the crowd. The Furious Five and Dragon Warrior had returned! Jubilation! The villagers rushed forward, trying to welcome the kung fu Masters home. Tai, Mei, and Shang backed away from the oncoming hoard. From what the others were doing, they were obviously used to this. Po motioned them forward. Trying to use the best route among the throng, they picked their way through the crowd. Some villagers gave them curious stares. Others growled.
"What was that for?" whispered Tai out of the side of his mouth. He didn't want to upset them at all.
"Probably 'cause they think we're the villains who killed Master Shifu. I dunno," murmured Shang back.
"I'm horrified," said Tai.
Shang chuckled. "I guess you should be."
The Masters reached the stairs that led to the Jade Palace and then turned around to face the entire town. A goose squawked and made his way up to the front.
"Po!"
"Dad!"
Po knelt down slightly as the goose gave him a big hug.
"Dad?" asked Shang, Mei, and Tai all at once.
"Confusing, I know," replied Mantis. "Po's adopted."
"Gotcha," said Mei. Shang just nodded. Po certainly was a unique Dragon Warrior.
"How was your journey, son? Did you catch them?"
"Uh, I'll tell you later dad. I'm kinda tired," said Po. He yawned to emphasize his meaning.
"Of course, what was I thinking. Now, I'm sure you'll ask me how the village behaved. Well, they did rather well. Nothing too big came up; nothing I couldn't handle. But, glad to have you back, son."
Po rose to his full height.
"Hey, everybody. We're kinda tired and we'll tell you all everything...tomorrow!"
"Are those the assassins?" called out somebody from the crowd.
Po faltered. He hadn't expected that. Tigress stepped in for him.
"No. They are friends. Seriously though, get back to your homes. You're going to have a long day tomorrow."
With a series of mutters, the village went back to their homes. Lamps were extinguished as the crowd went back to their houses.
"Up we go!" said Po as he started up the stairs.
Tai looked up and gulped. That was a long way up.
With a long breath, Tai made the final step and almost collapsed on the pavement at the top. He – they – were finally at the Jade Palace. Wait, no, he was going to collapse. He held up a paw as the world around him started to go black.
"Catch m'..." he said, starting to crumble.
Tigress leapt forward, catching him in her arms. Sort of embarrassed, she eased Tai to the ground.
"Never climbed stairs before?" she asked, though not unkindly.
Tai sat up.
"I have, just never so many. Sorry, got a little lightheaded. Not enough air or something. Anyways, I'm back."
Tai propped himself up and then proceeded to get back on his feet. Straightening himself, he started to sway, but caught himself.
"I'm going straight to sleep," the thin tiger said. "Tigress is right. Tomorrow we all have a long day." Everyone nodded. He turned to no one in particular. "If you could be so kind, can you show us to our quarters for the night. That would be splendid."
"You guys can use the guest room. A little small for three, but it'll work."
"Good enough for me," said Shang.
The guest room was enough for them. As accommodations were made, Tai couldn't help but shout out.
"We made it!"
Shang grinned.
"Something I never thought I would see," said Mei. "Me actually helping to save China. Wonderful thought, isn't it." Mei yawned, showing her pearly white incisors. "Now let's get to sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow. I'm sure it will be filled with a bunch of disappointed villagers and I don't want to face that without any sleep. So...goodnight."
With that, Mei rolled over to face the wall. Shang chuckled and slowly got down in a prone position. Mei's yawn was infectious; Tai and Shang both yawned too. Tai blinked slowly. Letting his head rest on a pillow, he fell asleep.
Tigress sat at the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom – or just the Peach Tree. She stood next to the tree, letting her paw run over the smooth bark. Had she failed or had she passed? She had failed to avenge Master Shifu. There was no doubt there. Yet she had controlled her anger and probably was going to save the Valley of Peace from that massive army that would arrive in...well, who knows when.
From what Tai says, it will probably get here in around a week or so, thought Tigress. How an army that size move so fast, I don't know.
She sighed. Everyone was asleep, yet she just couldn't get herself to go to bed. Something gnawed at her...again. It was that same question. Had she failed or succeed? One part of her said that she did succeed. She had done something for the greater good of China probably. Think about it; a massive army, bent on conquering China, was coming here and they were going to stop it! The Furious Five and Dragon Warrior would be heroes once again!
But, at the same time, Master Shifu's death wasn't avenged. Tigress narrowed her eyes. Those three, no, four, were still out there, living life with that knowledge. It sickened her. The tip of Tigress's tail seemed to have a mind of its own, doing circles in the air. Clearly, she was agitated.
"I think the true question is – why are you confused?" asked a voice behind her. It was so familiar.
Tigress turned, afraid of who she would see behind her. To her shock and, almost embarrassing excitement, it was Master Shifu. Well, almost Master Shifu. More like Master Shifu in spirit form.
"Master," said Tigress, bowing low. Inside, she bubbled with so many emotions. What would he say? Something shimmered next to the red panda. Standing, or floating, next to Shifu, with a swirl of peach leaves underneath him, was Grandmaster Oogway.
"Masters," repeated Tigress. Now she was a bit worried. If two of them where here, what did that mean?
"Ah, Tigress," began Oogway. He rested his claws gently on Tigress's shoulder. It was a comforting act. "Why are you so worried?"
"Because," she whispered. "I failed."
"Or so you believe. Look at yourself. I do not see failure. I see a tiger who is too worried about success or failure."
"What are you trying to say, Master Oogway?"
"What he is trying to say, Tigress," said Shifu, "is that you did not fail me."
Those words rushed over Tigress like a cool stream. Her Master said she hadn't failed...but how?
"I don't mean to be disrespectful, Master, but I have failed you."
Master Oogway let out a chuckle. Shifu's ears folded back on his scalp. He was a bit ticked now.
"You have not failed me, Tigress. You are a fine warrior. You only believe you failed me. You have not because there is still time too avenge me – though I truly don't wish it." Tigress held herself from reeling back in shock at Shifu's statement that he didn't wish to be avenged. "And remember this, Tigress, from failure you learn. From defeat you will get stronger. Already you are, how else would you have controlled your anger so well? Tigress, look past the past but learn from it. Like Oogway had said to Po, focus on the present, it's all you can do."
Tigress laughed. This meant a lot to her. Master Shifu wasn't entirely lost to her, he just wouldn't be able to be there Master at the Jade Palace. He would be with them though, watching them.
"Master Shifu, I cannot thank you enough," said Tigress.
"Then don't," said Oogway, smiling his toothless smile. "It would take too long. Time is something you have only a week of. Now, if you'll excuse us, Tigress, I am rather tired. We will see you around."
Oogway winked on Tigress at his last words and peach leaves fluttered around them, obscuring the tiger's view until the leaves dropped to the ground. Were Oogway and Shifu once stood, there was nothing. All that remained was a peach. She picked it up and walked to the barracks. Munching on the peach, she slid into bed. The lamp still flickered next to her. She could hear the snoring of Po in the room across from her. Mantis's slight chirps punctuated the normal rhythm of the snoring. From Crane's room, she could hear him ruffled his feather and change positions in his sleep. She stared up at the roof, she was rather peaceful. True, there was much to do in the next week or so and it would be rather important, but for now she was home. Her Master, and the closest of who she could call father, had told her how proud he was of her and they had made new friends too. Fate and destiny – maybe the Dragons too – like to have life take the weirdest twists and turns. For now, she was fine with that. The familiarity of her cot overtook her. Her custom made blankets, one of the few things unique about her room from the others, draped over her. She was at home and she would protect it from further enemies. No one would take away her home.