A/N: Okay, you guys probably saw this one coming... So here it is! Enjoy! :D

As soon as the remains of their two groups were gone, Jinshu looked at Tigress. She looked at him as well. But none of them spoke. The two eventually had to leave when the guards started 'waking up.'

The two continued down the hallway of the palace for a while, still not speaking at all. Suddenly Jinshu turned towards Tigress, just staring at her for a moment. "Tigress…"

Tigress stopped and so did Jinshu. In the dark hallway, the two were still able to see each other – Jinshu could see Tigress' eyes shine beautifully in the dark room due to her night vision; Tigress could clearly see him with her night vision.

As he watched her in the darkness, she looked fierce, almost menacing. Yet Jinshu still found her somewhat attractive – there was just something about her… Jinshu didn't know what it was, but he just knew that there was something.

"What is it?" she asked timidly after a few seconds of staring. In response, Jinshu dared take the first step towards her, careful – as to see if she would accept him coming closer.

To Jinshu's relief, she didn't reject him and eventually he stepped even closer. Soon he was standing centimeters from the tigress. "Tigress… Since I saw you, I was afraid…"

"Afraid?" Tigress asked, somewhat hurt. "Of me?"

"No, not that," Jinshu quickly replied, realizing his mistake. He didn't realize why though. "How could anyone ever be afraid of you?"

Tigress just shrugged, not wanting to answer. Eventually Jinshu continued.

"I was afraid… of talking to you," the silver fox explained, eventually looking down, unable to meet her eyes.

"And now?" Tigress asked.

"Now… now I'm afraid of…" Jinshu briefly stopped. In a very low mutter, he finished, "… loving you…"

"Pardon, I don't think I heard that right," Tigress said, even though she was sure she had heard correctly – she simply wanted Jinshu to say it louder.

"I… I was afraid of loving you," Jinshu said. The silver fox immediately felt somewhat embarrassed by admitting this and immediately turned away from Tigress, not wanting to see her face.

Tigress wasn't really taken by surprise by what he had just said. No, she had been surprised by how much emotion he had put into those words. Was he really speaking the truth? But more importantly, did she feel the same?

As Tigress took too long to react, Jinshu took it as a rejection and sighed. He then started walking without even looking at Tigress.

But suddenly a paw landed on his shoulder, stopping him from continuing. Jinshu turned his head and looked at Tigress. She was looking at him as well. Finally she spoke. "Jinshu… there's nothing to be afraid of, really."

"Do you mean… you feel the same?" Jinshu asked, sincere surprise in his voice. Tigress blushed, but eventually nodded.

"I don't know how though," she said. "I just do."

Jinshu's eyes lit up and he almost looked like he could faint. He then reached out and took her paws into his own. Her fur was soft, but underneath, Jinshu could feel rough, strong paws – the result of years of training.

Jinshu gently let go of her paws and put his paws on her waist. Tigress blushed, but as Jinshu pulled her closer, she placed her paws onto his, stopping him.

"Jinshu… we… it could never be us," Tigress said. Jinshu almost looked like he had seen a ghost. Without thinking about it, he felt his hands let go of Tigress' waist and fall to his sides, but to his surprise she placed them back there again… even despite what she had just said.

"But… I thought you felt the same way," Jinshu said, sounding both confused and hurt.

"I do… but… our Masters would never allow it," Tigress said, looking away for a moment.

"Tigress," Jinshu said. Tigress looked over at him and he continued, "I would gladly defy my grandfather to be with you."

"But…" Tigress remembered how Shifu had reacted upon seeing her near Jinshu at the last party. "Master Shifu… he wouldn't understand."

"I know," Jinshu said. "Most of the older Masters don't understand feelings."

"What do you mean?" Tigress asked.

"My grandfather… he probably knows about my feelings for you."

"Your grandfather?"

"Junjie," Jinshu said. Junjie was Jinshu's grandfather? Now, this was all the more reason for Tigress not to trust Jinshu. But… the question was… did she trust him at all? Did she have feelings for him or was it all something she tricked her own mind into believing?

"Jinshu... I don't know what to do," Tigress said. Jinshu's expression on his face immediately changed to a more hurt one.

"It's because he's my grandfather, isn't it?" he asked, letting go of Tigress' waist, stepping away. The look in Jinshu's eyes almost killed the hardcore Tigress, but before she could do anything, the silver fox said, "I thought you actually felt something."

"Jinshu, wait," Tigress said, but before she could do anything, Jinshu left, leaving Tigress alone with a lot to think about.

Watching him leave, Tigress could only wonder… wonder if she really didn't trust him because of his grandfather. Tigress sighed and looked down. Had she just made a mistake far bigger than she had thought at first?

After all, family relations weren't quite an assurance of a person's true nature; Lord Shen had been completely different from his parents. Maybe she should go apologize to…

"Tigress?" Tigress jumped slightly and turned around to face Master Shifu.

"Yes, Master?" she asked, hoping that Shifu hadn't seen or heard any of what had just happened between her and Jinshu.

"What were you two doing?" Shifu asked, much to Tigress' shock and dismay. "Why was he…? His hands, what was he doing?"

At first Tigress couldn't find the words to reply. What was she supposed to say? She was certain that Shifu wouldn't like it if she said that they… felt something. But what else could she say?

"He… He just… held me," Tigress finished the sentence. Shifu's facial expression immediately changed to a very astonished one.

"And you… you told him off, didn't you?" Shifu asked, just to be sure.

"… No," Tigress said, looking everywhere else, so that she wouldn't have to look at Shifu.

"… You didn't?" Shifu asked, looking at her with a mixture of amazement and astonishment.

"No," Tigress repeated, starting to feel less and less embarrassed.

"May I ask why?" Shifu asked, obviously quite a bit agitated by this.

"Because… I liked it," Tigress said. It felt weird – this was the second time Tigress had defied Shifu, but the first time where it was only for her own benefit. For a moment the Master and the student stood there not speaking at all.

"Shifu, I know you're disappointed," Tigress said in a soft tone of voice. "But it's the first time I've ever felt this towards someone else."

"So you really do love him?" Shifu asked. Tigress nodded. "Are you completely sure?"

Tigress did hesitate for a second, but eventually nodded again. "I do."

"Then I guess I cannot stop you," Shifu said as if this meant the death of Tigress.

"Stop me?" Tigress asked. "Are you really that much against it?"

"I'm sorry Tigress," Shifu said, one of the few times the old Master had ever apologized to her. "I just don't like it… He is one of Junjie's students and…"

"Master, he is Junjie's grandson," Tigress said, unveiling what she had just discovered. Shifu just stared at her due to this, not speaking. "And I know it will make you like it even less, but… I love him. And I have made a mistake… I have to go now, Master."

"Tigres… Tigress!" Shifu called after her as she left, but the tiger didn't listen. Shifu was astonished. He certainly didn't like what Jinshu did to Tigress. She usually wouldn't ever disobey and ignore her Master blindly like this.

Shifu didn't know what to do about this. His students, heck, his daughter, claimed to love his rival's grandson… But how was this possible? Tigress knew that Shifu didn't like Junjie… She knew about their past rivalry.

Yet… she didn't care about it; she didn't judge Jinshu for who his grandfather was… and maybe Shifu should do the same.

Tigress walked through the barracks of the palace. She sneaked as silently as she could – which was very, very quietly. She looked around and eventually saw that there was light inside one of the barracks. She knew for a fact that it could only be one person and walked up to knock on the door.

"Jinshu?" she asked softly while knocking.

"I'm sleeping," the silver fox replied, still inside the room.

"I know you're not sleeping," Tigress sighed. Jinshu didn't reply, but she could clearly hear a sigh from inside his room. "Listen, I just want to…"

"No, I'm sleeping," Jinshu repeated, making Tigress hiss lowly at his display of childish behavior.

Not caring about what Jinshu had just said, Tigress opened the door to Jinshu's room. She found that the silver fox sat on the edge of his bed, looking up when Tigress entered.

Without a word, Tigress walked towards Jinshu. Jinshu sighed and got to his feet. He was just about to tell Tigress off, but suddenly the most unexpected thing in the world happened; she kissed him.