I've rewritten the story and edited some spelling error that I spotted.
Also, I've noticed how much my style of writing have changed since this story was written, comparatively with my latest one : 'The Warriors'
Also in this story, you'll need to read
s/11975907/2/I-Believe-in-You-and-Me
and son-goku5 Tiger's journey, as I was making use of his character.
Anyway, before further ado, my closing chapter.
*** DREAMWORKS owned KFP, I don't.
A month had come and gone. Tigress paced herself through the village after completing nearly a month of teaching in Lee Da Academy. She climbed the thousands step in a hurry. She wasn't even sure what propelling her to move at such a pace. Upon reaching the barrack, she quickly looked where everybody was. The barrack was completely deserted - no living creature inside, but it was in fact approaching dinner time. 'May be they are in the kitchen'. Tigress ran towards the kitchen, and again it was inexplicably abandoned. She darted to the Hall of Heroes, stopping at the training hall on the way, and found no one. She huffed,'Where could everyone be?' She checked the Sacred Peach Tree and sacred pools thinking that his adopted father might be there meditating, again he was nowhere to be found, not even in his chamber. She was contemplating to check the Dragon Grotto when Zheng suddenly teleported in front of her.
"Master Tigress, you are back. I've been asked to escort you to join the Five for dinner." Tigress inwardly questioned why can't Zheng just complete his sentence and told her where were they were heading to instead, but decided to just follow the game. Zheng walking silently in front of her.
When she arrived at Dragon Warrior Tofu and Noodle shop, the place look deserted. The counter was closed, and no single soul appeared to be there, which was a bit odd because dinner rush hour normally started in 1 hour time. Tigress also noticed the table and chair was arranged differently. It's almost there was a clearing in the middle of the courtyard. Just when Tigress about to inquire the goose further, he had disappeared into oblivion, leaving a confused tiger alone.
Tigress was just about to retreat to the palace when she descried a pink ribbon suddenly braided her and pulled her closer to the counter. Subsequently, she grasped the ribbon with one of her free paw and tugged it firmly to reveal the culprit at the other end, a big, plushy, monochromatic figure fell with a thud. And before she could react she heard a loud "SURPRISE" and a few familiar figure emerged into the clearing. She saw, Mr. Ping, Master Shifu, the rest of the Five, Mei Mei, Li Shan, Po's cousin Dim and Sum, grandma panda, and Bao even Master Storming Ox and Master Croc were among the audience.
Tigress heard a squeal.
"Big stripy baby!"
There was only one person in all of China that was allowed to call her with that name.
"Lei Lei!" The cub planted a tenacious hug into Tigress' torso. She nuzzled her neck and Tigress gave her a peck on her forehead. "You've grown...!." She commented. Lei Lei just giggled. "I miss you Stripy Baby." Tigress couldn't help but smile."I miss you too Lei Lei."
"And I miss you too." She heard a big husky voice behind her, followed by a cuddly big black arms capture her into an familiar embrace, bestowing weeks of affection she lacked. His comforting musk almost tantalising her nose.
"Po!" She turned around. "you are back?" She was pleasantly surprised, she examined her panda who now stood, still clutching her waist affectionately. His endearing smile that she craved to see, his ample muscular arm, his loveable voice, and not to mention his food. Po had made the excellent chef in Lee Da sounded amateur in contrast.
"In fur and in flesh" the panda smirked. "The mission turned up to be simpler to solve than initially predicted."
"So what's all this about?" Tigress pointing out everyone doubtfully. Her boyfriend just smiled pointedly.
"Wait…., before I tell you what all this about I want you to meet someone." The panda smiled meaningfully.
A figure much like herself appeared from behind all the pandas, followed by three other felines that she recognized.
"Mother...!" Tigress dashed into her mother's arm. Both of them shed a little tears of joy. The last time they met her mother was assisting a few female tigers who were held captive in Xinan. Tigress noticed three of them that she personally released from the prison. "Tigress, I am so happy to be here and to see you... well, engaged to the love of your life." She flicked her glance to Po. "Dragon Warrior, please promise me to make my daughter happy - she is all that I have."
"The honor is mine Ms. Tigara." The Po bowed respectfully.
"Without further ado, let's start the celebra-..." Shifu's statement was insolently interjected when he saw that Mr Ping was busy distributing restaurant's voucher to everyone. He sighed pensively, a little smile satirical formed upon his maw, 'Seems like I had to settle with quirky goose in my family." Just as Mr Ping done with what he was doing, Shifu resumed his announcement. He raised his cup a tea and proposed everyone for a toast.
"Friends and Family, today we would like to officially announce my daughter betrothal to none other than Master Po Ping, the Dragon Warrior, without further ado, let's start the celebration by giving a toast - to the most legendary couple, for Dragon Warrior and Master Tigress!"
The crowd raised their tea cup for a toast. Suddenly there was a strong delicious smelling object around Tigress's neck. She turned to Po and saw he was wearing exactly the same thing. He even already started munching on it. Dim and Sum smiled sheepishly looking at his cousin and his-cousin-wife-to-be.
"Snackalce," Li confirmed. "To my soon-to-be-daughter-in-law."
He bended to the level of Tigress' ear and covered it with one of his paw, whispering clandestinely. "You had to come over to our village sometimes before your wedding to complete your panda training, then we are going to officially welcome you to the panda family."
The celebration opened with Mei Mei and Viper performing their ribbon dance. Mei Mei skilfully pulled a few audience, wrapped them with ribbon and forcing them to be part of the entertainment. Poor Po couldn't escape the ordeal twice, this time even worse because his girlfriend was watching, even the word humiliation would be an understatement.
In the middle of the celebration, an unexpected guest appeared by the door.
"Ma'am, what are you doing here?" Po threw a confused look at the Soothsayer.
"Dragon Warrior, I am sorry to disturb your celebration. I had a vision that brought me this way, am I correct that you and Master Tigress need to know auspicious date to tie the knot?" Po blinked. Before he knew it, Li had dragged him somewhere else, while he could hear Shifu spoke up.
"That's right..., what an honour to have you in such a rightful time. Now may I have attention of all the parents, we shall gather inside to discuss. The rest of you can continue with your...celebration." Shifu gave a friendly gesture to Li, Mr Ping and Tigara to gather in the kitchen. It was quite a snuggle since there is at least two large animal taller than the door frame, scrunching their way to find a gap inside the kitchen.
Outside monkey suggested they played "Asked the Couple", the idea of the game was to test how much Po and Tigress knew about each other. Po seemed to be overly ecstatic at the prospect of demonstrating his knowledge of his idol, while Tigress was skeptical this would not end without one of them revealing mortifying truth and degrading themselves.
"The aim of the game is for both of you to get as many matching answer as possible, because for each wrong answer, both of you had to be - in turn - telling us your darkest most demeaning secret about your relationship that we don't know." Monkey spluttered evilly.
The statement instantly wiped the euphoric expression from the panda's face, while the tiger's patience grew short by the second, she was infuriated, unfortunately the crowd didn't give them much option. And she knew, with her father and all prospective in law in view, she couldn't simply massacre her cohort on the spot, on her engagement day or turning her-future-father-in-law restaurant into a graveyard.
"Do we have a say in this?" Po asked gingerly, knowing this wouldn't end well. His jade orbs try to find her mate ruby eyes to seek approval. To his surprise the feline was submissively giving a weak nod without uttering a word.
"No. you don't." The rest were in a general agreement. There was not many favourable occasion to prank Master Tigress and Dragon Warrior and this was a perfect opportunity. The game started, the boys asking Po and the girls asking Tigress the same set of question, jotted down the answer so they couldn't change their mind, and called them back for judging. After they had done with that, the couple sat adjacent to each other, while Monkey read the questions and the answers from both of them.
"Po, here is your first question. What is Tigress favorite food?"
"Easy, fried tofu!" Tigress gave him congratulating smile. "One point for Po. How about you Tigress, do you know Po's favorite food?" This was a much harder task since Po would literally swallow anything under that category.
"I'll say dumpling" Po gaped, mouthing 'noodle' but it was too late. "That's one wrong. One point to do dare."
"What is her favorite color?"
"My answer is Jade Green," he stuttered, he couldn't believe that after knowing her for 8 years he still had no idea about her favourite colour. "That's another point for the panda." Po smiled, congratulating himself for such a witty comeback. Now that it was proven to be correct. "Is that a lucky guess Dragon Warrior?" The panda in question gave a small nod. "She always told me my eyes were captivating, hence my guess." The audience in unison responded with an 'awwww...' sound.
"How about you Tigress?"
"Black and White," she said shortly. "And why do you think it is?"
"Po loves himself quite a bit." There is an amount of snickering from among their comrades hearing the reason behind her choice of answer. And she was correct yet again.
"So the score for both team Panda and Tiger is three and one for a dare, let's move on to next question."
"Po who is Tigress first crush?"
Po squirmed at his seat, he averted his gaze looking at the floor of the courtyard. He knew Tigress would be severely miffed if he let her secret got out there.
"Ok, ok fine... Master Shifu." There was a coherent gasped, he suddenly regretting what he had said. Po slapped himself inwardly for his audacity, which probably could end his engagement or meeting certain demise by the end of the day. He locked his gaze to his girlfriend to find she glaring dagger at him. "That's a wrong answer." Now it was Po's turn to slack-jawed, disbelieving his own ear. Did Tigress kept someone away from him?
"The correct answer is midnight-stranger." And suddenly he felt relief. Tigress smiled looking at the change of Po's facade, she knew what he was thinking.
But her smile soon disappeared as she heard Mantis reading the score. "So three for Ti-Po team, and two for the dare."
"Tigress, this is for you, who is Po's first crush?"
"It had to be Mrs. Xiang, the seamstress that often come to Mr. Ping for mahjong." Everyone chuckled.
"She is two decade older than Po, I wonder what was he was thinking," Mantis mocked.
"When was this happening?" asked Viper.
"When Po about five," Tigress replied dryly.
"WHAT?"
"Ok...ok... I know what you guys are thinking." The panda was red as beetroot, but he felt he had to defend himself. "She was very nice to me 'kay... she always came to bring me cookies."
"Is that it?" Crane snickered.
"Yeah, I mean c'mon... I am five!" Po said defensively.
"So the final score is, Tiger/Panda team scoring four, and two for daring the truth." announced Monkey.
"Now, let us move to the most exciting part of the game. The rule is both of you have to tell us a secret that none of us knew! If anyone of us already heard about it before, please raise your hand so we can press the couple to tell us something else." Monkey explicated with authoritative tone. Both the tiger and the panda whispered between each other to come into agreement which 'less shameful' secret they could confess.
"First daring truth. Our first kiss was over four years ago, before we even got together." Po blushed at his own statement. He agonized at all the attention now directed at him.
"Andddd..." Crane pressed impatiently.
"So, did you remember the Wu Sister joined forces with Temuti invading the nearby village while I had dislocated my shoulder so he couldn't fight? Shifu, Crane and Viper were out for Master's Convention. We were severely outnumbered just the three of us wouldn't stand a chance winning against them." Po continued. "Tigress suggested that some of my kung fu technique like the golden lotus clap, mongolian fireball, thundering wind hammer, wuxi finger hold, might coming handy, so Tigress and I decided to exchange place."
"We used the zhou-deng-soul gem to switch between body." Tigress explained.
"But I thought Shifu had destroyed that Gem?" Crane did recollect all Five of them and Dragon Warrior were present when Shifu eradicated that ancient piece of artifact after it caused the whole ordeal with Shifu's ex-girlfriend Mei Ling using Shifu's body to cover her crime.
"It was the fake one that he destroyed, I knew where Shifu had kept the real one," Tigress replied coolly. Shifu knew how trustworthy his daughter was with such secret. And having someone else to know where he placed important things would certainly help in time of great danger.
"So what's then?" asked Mantis curiously. All of them knew Po and Tigress did swap body that day, no-one really asked any more detail beyond that.
"Well... do you know how that stone work?" Po probed gingerly, trying to use the right word. "In order for you to swap body, you had to... kiss."
"Are you saying you two kissed twice that day and none of us know about it." The panda just squirmed and nodded expectantly, wanted to get over with all the hassling, while the Tiger looked like urgently wanting to murder someone. "Why would we tell you anyway? It was majorly embarrassing as it was!" She grumbled.
"At first I do wonder why you didn't suggest to swap place with me or Mantis." Monkey pulled a smug grin. "Now we know why...besides it's a perfect excuse to kiss Tigress!"
"Monkey, watch-a sayin' buddy, you are digging your own grave." The Mantis pointed his appendage at Tigress direction, who was now fuming ready to explode.
"Hey, the swapping thing was Tigress' idea!" The bear replied defensively, but soon realised his mistake. Her fist clutched in anger and getting ready to deliver a painful surprise to her clueless boyfriend.
"Are you suggesting I want to kiss you, panda?" She gritted her teeth. Po coiled backwards until his was cornered at the end of the restaurant. "W-well, d-don't you t-think it's better t-than kissing Mantis or Monkey?" He stammered in fear. Tigress thought for a second, and her anger was quickly dampened "I guess you have a point there."
"Now, second daring truth... Tigress, what do you want to share?"
"Lei Lei came to me one day asking where a baby came from. And I told her to ask Po." Tigress smiled. All the glance moved towards the panda on her side that fidgeted squeamishly.
"A-and I-I said, that stork brought the baby. That's why Mr. Ping ended up with a panda, and Shifu ended up with a Tiger." Po muffled, tried not to meet his gaze with Crane since he knew what would come next.
"Is that why Lei Lei came to me asking me she wants a baby sister?" Crane interrogated with an annoyed look.
"Yeap, that's might explain why," Po admitted, twiddling with his blunt claw hesitantly.
"But that's nothing to do with your relationship, you had to choose another dare!" Mantis whined. There was an instant bickering among the crowd. Po was sure Tigress had enough about spilling their intimate life for scrutiny, but his comrades wouldn't let them off without exposing something... that no one knew about.
"Okay fine fine." Po submitted with defeat.
"Do you guys remember our first date? I mean real date, not because losing a bet or doing a dare."
"You means that one 2 weeks after defeating Kai?"
"What about it?" Crane asked impatiently.
"The night before, I actually dreamt... no more like have a vision, that me and Tigress were married, and we had 2 cubs, both boys. Shifu was married, Monkey you had a girlfriend - not superintendent Wu's daughter, and to add icing on the cake, Tigress told me that I owe her a girl. So she drag me to the bedroom to -"
"Ok Po, that's quite enough." He suddenly heard Shifu's voice. How much he had heard and how long had he been there he had no idea.
"So what then Po?" Viper coiled closer to the couple.
"Then Tigress of the future told me that whatever I see and experience that day was a possibility, which depends on what I will do to Tigress in the present time. So I dare myself to ask her for a date on the next day."
"I am surprised you didn't suffer any injuries asking her for a date out of nowhere."
"...hm..." they heard the feline clear her throat. "I actually had the same dream the night before. A little different than Po, we were just married, no cubs. I met Mei Mei, you married Hom-Lee and had a little cub, Viper and Crane you have 2 children, and Shifu was off for his honeymoon." Shifu's ears twitched erratically at the statement. Mei Mei blushed furiously. Viper had hid somewhere while Crane had his beak wide slacked open with loud creaking sound.
"In my dream, we were all sitting pretty much here, celebrating something I don't know what. Apparently, it was a surprise party - Po wants to announce that I'm... expecting." No one expected the last word. Po felt his face getting warm and even Tigress felt extremely nervous, her tail lashes back and forth to vent her anxiousness.
"So, what did the Po of the future told you to do?" Crane finally gained composure and held control over his beak.
"He told me pretty much sum up to the same message, when the time come, he wanted me to give his present self a chance to have a deeper relationship with me," Tigress replied.
"Let me guess, so when Po asked you for a date, you just plainly say yes?" Mei Mei raised her feminine voice. The tiger nodded.
"Well, I guess both Po and Tigress from the future did quite a good job keeping you both on track." A deep voice interrupted their game. Li stood up behind the crowd that encircling the couple. "Sorry to interrupt your game, we've come into agreement on the date - it was exactly 3 month from now. So now we can discuss about wedding plan."
Crane quickly raised his wings, he volunteered to be the wedding planner, while Mei Mei would be his co-assistant while she was training here. Mr Ping would cater the food and the cakes. Tigress and Po had decided their wedding would be a low-key, only inviting those closest and dearest, and it would be held down the place most memorable for them, the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom. The celebration continued on, and that night Po slept at his old room to spend more time with both his dads while Tigress accompanying her mother and the ladies from Xinan for the night.
Before all of them parted their ways, Tigress quickly grabbed Mei Mei arm.
"Mei Mei... can I have a word with you... in private?" Mei Mei almost never saw Tigress flustered, in fact, she had no idea the master of the hard style was even capable of feeling out of her comfort zone. The female panda smiled and follow Tigress to more secluded place.
"Mei Mei, I think I owe you an apology, you might not be aware of it. But... I did...I did have a moment of doubting our friendship." She admitted. The panda just threw a perplexed stare at the tiger.
"I had thought that you came here to take Po away from me." She went on explaining what she overheard over Mr. Ping shop during her patrol, and what she had witnessed when Po and Mei Mei sparing that night to the great detail. Mei Mei just smiled listening to her friend confession, she placed one paw on Tigress's paw gently.
"It's none of your fault Tigress, you just happen to be there to... get the wrong impression about everything, but there is no accident right?" Mei Mei replied wisely. "Anyway, I am glad everything turns out as planned."
"... one more thing." Tigress put a slight pressed on Mei Mei paw when she felt a motion that she about to leave.
"Would you... be my bridesmaid for my wedding?" The look in her eyes said she was being serious and this was a great deal for her. The panda blinked for a second or two, mentally processing the request. Both of them only met handful of time, to give a best-friend as a caption of their relationship would be considered boastful. Capturing the bedazzled look of her friend, Tigress quickly intervene.
"I know we hardly know each other, but I know I can trust you, could you be my bestfriend... from today?" Mei Mei face literally lit up like a firework in realization of her request. Before Tigress said another word, she engulfed her in another bear hug.
"I would love to, Tigress. That would be an honor."