Hey dudes and dudettes, Eddie here, keeping my TigressxOC story going. We last left off where Tigress left Kio's room and had an angry look on her face. Let's see what happens next.

ON WITH THE STORY!

Chapter 3

Tigress stormed out of the room offended. "How dare he try to protect me, out of all people, and then try to befriend me?" Tigress has only had two people protect her, which was Shifu, and her loved one. The only thing about that is, she has no loved one. She had never been in love with someone before. She has thought of Po as a candidate for that role, but she never actually tried to go for it. She really wanted to have a love, but she knows Shifu won't have any of that.

"I don't think that I'll ever have a love life…" Tigress was about to hang her head low when she pulled herself together and walk downstairs. When she walked downstairs, she saw Po and the rest of the five still sitting at the table. Po saw Tigress come downstairs and spoke to her. "Tigress, where did you go? You nearly missed dinner. Luckily, I saved you some dumplings." Tigress then looked at Po and grinned slightly. "Thank you Po." said Tigress as she sat down and began to eat her food. While upstairs, Shifu was talking to Kio.

"Hello Kio, I see that you have regained some strength as a result of rest." Kio sat up slowly and spoke to Shifu. "Yes I have. Thank you for taking me in during my time of need, but I think I have over-stayed my welcome." Kio spoke as he began to get up and grab his things. Shifu had stopped him from leaving the mat and began to speak. "You can't leave just yet. You haven't told me how you got like this." Shifu had looked at Kio and saw him avert his eyes. "How can I tell him that I was in a dungeon for three months? I have to make up something and fast." thought Kio as he began to speak. "I… was jumped when I was on a trail on the way to the Valley of Peace. They beat me, cut me, and stole my things." stated Kio as he looked at Shifu. Shifu knew Kio was lying to him, but he couldn't call him on it. "Oh, I'm sorry about that. If you want, you could stay here in the palace and learn to defend yourself." Kio looked at Shifu with a confused look on his face. He wasn't sure if he could trust him or not, but he knew he would call his bluff if he said no. "…Alright… I'll stay here… for now." said Kio as he began to sit back down. Shifu then smiled and began to walk out. "Great. We'll begin tomorrow." Shifu said as he left the room.

The next day, everyone woke up at the gong and ate breakfast. After they all ate breakfast, they went to the training hall where Shifu began to tell what was going to happen. "As you know, we have an unexpected guest here in the palace. If you don't know his name, his name is Kio. I asked him if he wanted to stay here and learn to defend himself so his… "unfortunate incident" doesn't happen again. He accepted and will be training with us until I see he is fit to defend himself." The five then bowed to him and began to train. "Kio, why don't you train with me? I wanna get to know you some more." Po said as he took his stance. Kio hesitated as he began to take his starting position.

"Alright, let's do this! We'll start off with blocking." After about 2 ½ hours, Po looked more tired than he started training with Tigress on his first day, while Kio never broke a sweat. "Wow… y-you're pretty good… for a beginner." Po said panting. Kio had just chuckled mildly and then rubbed his head. What he couldn't see is that Tigress was glaring at him with cold-hearted eyes. She couldn't put her paw on it, but things didn't add up. "It doesn't add up. How can a beginner in Kung Fu beat a master with such ease? Or at least match up with them?" thought Tigress as she bopped off to the side of the training hall. It was Viper's turn to spar with Kio. "Come on Kio, it's time for me to spar with you. I saw what you did when you were sparring Po." Kio was again reluctant to take his stance. "What's wrong?" said Viper as she lowered her defenses. "I-I can't hit you." said Kio as he turned away from Viper. "Why not?" asked Viper sort of offended. "Hitting a woman is… not part of my lifestyle." Spoke Kio. Viper blushed and giggled at this statement. "I thought chivalry was dead." said Viper as she turned her head, trying to hide her blush.

Tigress scoffed at this statement. She knew that things weren't right with him. She wasn't just going to sit by and idly watch as he slipped into the Furious Five's lives. "Is something wrong, Tigress? Maybe I can be of assistance." asked Shifu as Tigress' train of thought was broken. "Oh… I-I'm s-s-sorry Master Shifu. I'll get back to training…" Tigress had been cut off by Shifu's hand. "It's alright; I know something is on your mind. Speak child." "Well, I feel as if something is wrong with that panther Kio. I think that he's hiding something from us. And I'm going to find out what it is." Shifu felt the same way about Kio, so he went ahead and O.K.'d the proposal.

Four Months Later…

Everyone has been making good friends with Kio, especially Tigress. She has gotten closer and closer to the panther, but farther and farther from her goal. She hates to say it, but she actually likes him. Not that she doesn't like Po anymore. Now she's torn between two people and the only one who knows is her and Viper. They both tried to get both of the boys to notice Tigress, but no avail. "I'm really glad that he isn't what he I thought he was." Viper looked at her with a crazy look on her face. "What did you think he was?" she asked with confusion. "I thought that he was an enemy to the Valley and I was worried he was sending messages to his allies, but I didn't find anything. So I guess that he's O.K." said Tigress as a messenger duck came to the palace in a state of panic. "Master Shifu! Tai Lung's forces have returned to the Valley!" Shifu and the Furious Five, including Kio and Po, all prepared themselves for battle.

Once they got to the outskirts of the valley, they had confronted the new boss of Tai Lung's forces, Tao Lang Xu. "Who are you and what do you want with the Valley of Peace?" asked Shifu as Tao stepped up. "Oh, we want nothing from the Valley, we only want what's ours." said Tao in a deep, husky voice. "And what would that be?" asked Shifu. "Kio."

Well, there's a cliffhanger for ya. I hope you guys liked the chapter. Eddie's out.