Old Habits Die Hard

Tigress sent a punch forward to the tree. Her knuckles felt numb at each strike, leaving her positive they'd be bruised by morning. Though, thankful enough, she disn't feel any of the pain. It was times like these her training payed off.

Punching the Ironwood trees, was an old habit that nowadays she'd rarely partake in. The trees were supposed to make her stronger, inside and out. They were supposed to strength her paws, and somewhere along the lines, herself was strengthen as well. She thought she could no longer feel pain in her hands. But as any warrior knew, there were many kinds of pain that enemies could inflict on their opponent.

Po certainly wasn't an enemy, but the way he made her behave lately, made him seem like one.

Originally, she didn't know why she got the weird feelings around him. A pounding heart, suddenly appearing tongue tied. Why did sparring with him, an activity she loved, suddenly make her feel bad? Nowadays, it was like she wanted to go easy on him; allow him to win a few times a week. Po insisted he loved the challenge, but TIgress wasn't so sure she did as well.

But lately she had caught on. Whether it was the way her heart melted when they exchanged looks or when he complimented her during training. She had has it up to her without knowing her feelings, and after constant research, she knew what was going on with her.

She was in love with Po.

Po and her had noticeably grown close over the years. And apparently they weren't the only ones who noticed it too. Many of the villagers even assumed they were dating. Monkey and Mantis made bets of when they would get together, Po's father would constantly question it. Maybe it was destiny one would fall for the other. Tigress just hated it had to be her.

The question was, whether or not to tell him?

Surely the Dragon Warrior would react with as much kindness he could muster. That was one of the qualities she loved about him. After years of spending the days with that very panda, she knew he would never do anything to purposely hurt her. Even if his feelings weren't the same as hers. Even if he considered them, only as friends.

In retrospect, Tigress realized it could be a lot worse.

However, now that she thought about it, she knew Po had a tendency to run his mouth. It wouldn't be long until the word got out that Master Tigress of the Furious Five asked out the Dragon Warrior.

Tigress sent another punch plummeting to the face of the tree with even more force. The tree began to crack and peel at the front. Just like what she felt inside.

It would clearly take a lot of reasonable thinking, meditating and reflecting on what choice was right. Either to tell Po or not.

Stepping back with her arms newly crossed in frustration, Tigress took in the scene of destruction she had inflicted on the tree.

Tigress' thoughts ran interrupted as she heard the same Dragon warrior screaming for her to come inside.

"Coming!"

She had to decide..