How DARE you guys threaten me! I am THE GREAT ZEA! YOU DO NOT THREATEN THE GREAT ZEA! Lol. JK.

But seriously guys, I'm amazed by the number of threats I received to update this story. Don't worry, they were good threats. They actually encouraged me to continue the story quicker. But don't take this comment to mean that you have to threaten me in your reviews for quicker updates.

But I would like to clear some things up with you guys.
1. As much as I enjoy writing my stories as much as you guys enjoy reading them, I don't make money out of it.
2. I am unemployed and as such there are times I am very busy doing odd jobs to make a little money.
3. And speaking of odd jobs, I had been very busy since my last update hence why I was unable to update sooner.
4. In addition to writing stories for fun, I also do artwork as well as animation. Some of these have deadlines, so they become a priority.

So please, bear with me. I love you guys and love the reviews, because they really do push me to continue my work, even though it takes some time.

Also, at the end of this chapter, I will be replying some of the reviews I received. I don't really do this since I just reply to the reviewer if they are signed in, but some of the reviews I receive I am unable to reply because they are guest reviewers. So I will be replying those at the end of this chapter.

Now, without further ado, I present to you guys, Chapter 7! ENJOY! :D

Chapter 7

Everyone turned and looked up toward the palace doors upon hearing them open.

"Po?" Tigress asked, upon seeing the panda only now showing up.

"How dare you interrupt a Match Making Ceremony?! No one is allowed in until the ceremony is over, or unless called in!" Mrs. Zing yelled at the panda. But Po didn't seem to hear her, as he stood frozen in the doorway.

"Did you hear what I said, Panda! You-"

"That's enough, Mrs. Zing." Master Shifu interrupted her in a surprisingly calm tone.

"Did you need something, Panda?" Shifu asked, stressing on 'panda' loud enough for him to snap out of his frozen state.

"Oh!" Po exclaimed, snapping out of his trance. "Uh… no… I was just… I didn't… I thought that…" he then release a sad sigh. "I'll be in the training hall if anyone needs me." He stated, before he turned and made his leave from the hall to the training hall. They all watched the panda disappear from the Hall of Heroes, before Monkey closed the doors so that the ceremony could continue.

Monkey, Crane and Mantis watched sadly as Po sluggishly made his way to the training hall with his body hunched over. They couldn't help but feel sorry for him and wanted to comfort him, but knew that he wanted to be alone at the moment. So they let him be.

Back in the Hall of Heroes, the ceremony continued.

"Ugh! The nerve of that panda!" Mrs. Zing spat out. "Anyway, let us continue shall we?" she said in a calmer, somewhat sweeter, tone.

"Of course." Tigress replied, and returned her attention to the candidates.

"As I was saying, before we were interrupted; I have made my decision." Tigress stated.

Mrs. Zing held her breath in excitement, eager to hear who the Great Kung Fu Master had chosen. Shifu frowned and his ears dropped as he looked up to his daughter and awaited her decision. Viper already knew the feline's decision and kept a straight face, so as not to give away any possible hints.

"Rong, Renshu. You are both excellent candidates and I was… satisfied with what I got to know about you. But I can only choose one." Tigress began. "I… however, apologize. But the person I've chosen, is not here."

"WHAT!" Rong and Mrs. Zing exclaimed in shock.

Shifu gave a silent sigh of relief and Renshu seem to not be surprised.

"B-but you have to choose! That's the whole point of the ceremony!" Mrs. Zing stated in a panicked tone.

"And I did choose. But he is not in this room." Tigress somewhat calmly replied.

"Then who is it and where is he?!" Mrs. Zing yelled, her anger getting the better of her. Tigress narrowed her eyes towards the old sheep.

"Again, I apologize for the trouble I may have caused you all, but I have to go." She bowed towards the candidates and only receive a bow from Renshu in returned, before she quickly made her way to the palace doors and exited the hall.

The doors suddenly burst open, catching the rest of the Five off guard. When they turned to it, all they saw was an orange and red blur dash passed them and down the Palace stairs. They looked down and saw the tiger master making her way down.

"Tigress?" Monkey asked. He, Mantis and Crane watched the tigress with confusion. Viper then slithered out and stood next to Monkey, watching the feline with a smile on her face.

"Did she…" Monkey knowingly asked.

"She did." Viper replied still smiling. The others knew what she meant and smiled as well.

"Ugh! I don't get it! Who could she have possibly chosen! They were perfect for her! Perfect!" Mrs. Zing ranted. Shifu merely stared at the ranting sheep with an amused smile on his face.

Rong clenched his fists and growled.

"No female has ever turned me down. I will have Master Tigress." Rong angrily thought, before going after the female feline warrior.

Shifu simply raised an eyebrow at the leopard as he dashed out of the Sacred Hall. Renshu simply watched him leave.

"Of course." Shifu muttered to himself at the leopard's predictable behaviour. He walked down the short flight of stairs and approached the lynx, who bowed upon the Grandmaster's approach. Shifu made a hand gesture, stating that pleasantries weren't needed.

"I realized you don't have a problem with this turn of events. Did you know this would happen?" Shifu asked the lynx.

"I just had a feeling, Master Shifu. I knew she wouldn't pick Rong, because the others told me how she felt about leopards. And… if I can be honest; I was hoping she wouldn't choose me." Renshu told the Grandmaster.

This surprised Shifu. "And why is that." He stated his question.

"Don't get me wrong, Master Shifu. Master Tigress is a great woman and an even Greater Warrior. But I don't think I would have been the right one for her. A woman like her, needs someone… who is more her level, and can keep up with her." Renshu explained. "I won't be able to do that. I know I'm practically the perfect gentleman, as I have been told many times, but I don't think that is what the Master Tigress wants. She'd probably become tired of me within a day."

Shifu chuckled. "Well, I can't disagree. You were both excellent candidates, I'll admit that. But Tigress would most likely go for someone… who is, well, a combination of the two of you. A gentleman, but also quite fierce."

Renshu nodded in agreement. "I figured that much." He paused for a moment. "What should I do now? Should I leave, or…" he asked.

"Stick around for a bit." Shifu told him, as he started to make his way to the Palace doors. "I'm sure Tigress might want to have a word with you later. In the meantime, why don't you meditate by the Sacred Moon Pool. It is one of your hobbies, is it not?" He said while he walked.

"Yes, it is. Thank you, Master Shifu." Renshu thanked the Grandmaster. He made his way to the Sacred Moon Pool and began meditating once Shifu disappeared out the door. Mrs. Zing continued ranting, but he was able to tune her out having been used to noise around him when he meditates.

"Um… Master Shifu?" Crane cautiously said, when the Grandmaster stepped out from the Great Hall.

Shifu looked up at the rest of the Five and saw that they all had a worried expression.

"Rong?" Shifu knowingly asked. He received uneasy nods from them. Shifu sighed in exasperation. "Let's go." He stated, heading after the two felines. The others followed closely behind.

Tigress stood in front of the doors of the training hall. She still wore the ceremonial attire but had gotten rid of the headpiece on the way. She could hear grunting and the equipment in the hall being hit… hard. They sounded like they were being destroyed. She took a deep breath and exhaled, then slowly opened the doors to the training hall.

Tigress gasped and her eyes widened at the sight before her. The training hall was destroyed. Literary. Even The Adversary was ripped apart. The only thing that stayed intact, was the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom and one lone Wooden Warrior which stood in the middle of the hall. However, said warrior was not alone. Standing in front of the warrior, punching, kicking and blocking, was the black and white, chubby panda warrior. He grunted through clenched teeth as he delivered and blocked blow upon blow toward the wooden warrior.

Tigress stood on the sidelines of the training hall, stunned by what she was witnessing.

"Po?" she cautiously called out to the panda loud enough once she found her voice again. She was still trying to process what she was seeing.

Po blocked the wooden warrior's arm and held his position as he turned to face the person who had called him. When he saw who it was, he gave a quiet growl before turning back to the wooden warrior and delivered one final blow, powerful enough to destroy it to pieces. Tigress' eyes widened once again when she saw this. Never had she thought that the panda had such strength, especially since she always beats him during training.

Po then made his way to the sidelines and stood in front of the tiger warrior. He folded his arms and waited for what the feline had to say. She looked up at him, and for once in her life since she'd known the panda, she couldn't read him.

"A-are you alright, Po?" She cautiously asked. She wasn't afraid of him, but after what she just witnessed, there was no telling what he would do.

"Me? Oh I'm great. I've never been better." He replied.

What scared Tigress a bit, was how emotionless his response was. It didn't sound happy or angry or sad. There was just… no emotion.

Silence fell between them for a moment. Tigress sighed and looked down, unable to look into his emotionless eyes anymore, before she spoke.

"I… I made my decision." She told him.

Po scowled slightly. "Yes, I heard." He told her with the same emotionless tone. "Shouldn't you be with him right now?"

Tigress' insides were now turning. She would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't afraid of him now. The fun, loving, full of life panda she knew, was now an empty shell. She hoped he'd be back to his normal self once she told him.

"Well, y-yes. B-but I… he…" she stopped when she saw that Po was no longer in front of her and quickly turned to see the panda making his way to exit the training hall.

"Wait! Don't you want to know who it is?" She called out to him.

Po stopped halfway up the stairs, but didn't bother to turn to face the feline, as he replied.

"I'm sure I'll be seeing him around the palace. So I don't think there is a need to tell me." He replied. He took two more steps before-

"It's you."

Po froze in his step. He didn't hear that… right? There was no way. But, he had to be sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him.

"Come again." He stated, still not turning to face the Tiger Master.

"It's you, Po." Tigress repeated.

Silence fell between them again, before Po turned and made his way back toward the feline and stood in front of her. He looked confused as he looked down at her. Tigress felt a bit relieved to see some emotion from him again. Even if it was confusion, it was still something.

"Yes, Po. I chose you."

"But… I wasn't a candidate. In a Matchmaking Ceremony, you're supposed to choose between the candidates taking part in the ceremony." Po stated, even more confused, but very much happy.

"I'm supposed to choose. Doesn't mean I have to." Tigress smiled up at the panda. Po chuckled at her explanation. Of course she had to see a loop hole in it.

"But… why me?" Po asked, still a bit confused.

"Well… becau-"

BANG!

The training hall doors slammed open, revealing a very pissed leopard. Po and Tigress, startled by the sudden entry, turned to the source.

"Rong?" Tigress asked, slightly confused. Po on the other hand was completely confused by the leopard's appearance.

Rong growled. "A PANDA?!" He yelled. "You turned me down… FOR A PANDA?!"

Tigress scowled. "What are you-"

But before she or Po could react, Rong had lunged himself at the panda, tackling him and causing them both to land in the middle of the destroyed hall. Po quickly separated himself from the leopard and took on a fighting pose, as did Rong.

"Rong! What are you doing?! Leave him alone!" Tigress yelled at the leopard. She was about to intervene, when...

"Tigress, stop!" She heard her master call out. She turned to the doorway to see Master Shifu and the rest of the Five make their way toward her.

"But Master Shifu…"

"You are not to intervene, Tigress." Shifu firmly told her.

"What! Why?"

"They are fighting over you, Tigress." Viper stated.

"I know and can see that. But why can't I intervene?" Tigress asked.

"If you get between them and try to defend Po, he will be deemed unworthy." Shifu stated.

"Unworthy?"

Shifu nodded.

"If Po were still your friend, then you could have gone ahead and try to stop them in order to defend Po. But this is not the case. You have chosen Po, as your lifelong mate, Tigress. It is normal for other suitors to challenge him. It is a good way to test his strength and his ability to be able to protect you.' Shifu explained.

"Protect me?" Tigress asked in a slightly annoyed tone, with a low growl.

"It's just protocol, Tigress. We are in no way saying you are weak, but this is just one of the rituals that are involved with the choosing of a mate."

"So… what happens when they are done?" Tigress asked.

"If Po loses… well… Rong gets you, whether you like it or not." Shifu told her.

"What?!" Tigress exclaimed with wide eyes. "But I thought the point of this match making thing was for ME to find a mate I could be happy with! Not the other way around!" she yelled.

Shifu sighed. "Yes, well… sometimes these things happen Tigress. But, I am confident that Po will win."

"How are you so sure?" Tigress worriedly asked.

"Well, for one thing, he IS the Dragon Warrior, but I'm not too sure Rong knows that. And secondly, Po loves you a lot more than you think, Tigress. And now that he knows you return those feelings, I'm pretty sure he's going to do whatever it takes to keep you." Shifu explained.

They all turned towards the fight.

Tigress knew that Po would most likely win, if he used even half the strength from what he did to the training hall and what she had witness. But there was still the chance that he may allow himself to get beaten. She just hoped he knew what would happen if he lost this fight.

Updated: 11.04.2016

Alright! That's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm sure I really have you all in suspense now. Muah ha ha ha.

Anywho, please review, and again, I'll try to update as soon as I can.

Review Replies.

Tigergirl713 – Well, as I'm sure you have read, she did not pick Renshu. I won't say anymore now as you will find out more in the upcoming chapters.

Random Reviewer – I'm sorry, but as much as I know you guys like Renshu, I'm a hard-core PoxTigress fan. I can't write them paired this anyone else. It makes me very uncomfortable to read such things far less write them myself. But not to worry, Renshu still has a part to play in their lives as you will find out in later chapters.

Pokemonpoko – hmmm… I might make a fic with Renshu, but I'm not sure yet.

Guest – The warthogs' and buffalo's names aren't wrong. I always do a bit of research to make sure I get most of my stuff right.

Guest – My advice to you, is to just start writing. Jot down the ideas when they come to you. And trust me, once you start, the ideas are just going to flow while you write. Also, it's a lot of practice. I will honestly tell you, my writing was not this good when I started. But the more I did it, as well with the help of others giving constructive criticism, I got better. In fact, I was your age when I started. So don't be afraid. Go ahead and write. It may not be great but it will be good enough. Let it be your stepping stone to become a great writer. :D

~Zea