Her History

Another few days went by and Momoda was nowhere to be seen. It had been a whole five months since the mysterious tiger first appeared on the scene, and the group wasn't any closer to figuring out who she was or why she was there. "I think we should go south. She might be there," Po said. The panda seem to have a lead, though he wouldn't say what it was. The gang had to have faith that Po knew what he was doing, even when Po didn't seem to know what he was doing. He wanted Crane, Viper, Mantis, and Monkey to go with him to find her, leaving Tigress and Shifu alone to watch the village. Since Tigress had trained too much in Shifu's and everyone else's opinion, he decided to take up the patrols by himself. "Master Shifu, I-"

"That's enough," Shifu replied gently. "I don't want you exerting yourself more than you already have. You've done a lot of work to prepare yourself. Now, you need a lot of rest."

"Yes Master Shifu," Tigress relented. As she retired to her room, Shifu turned his attention to Po.

"Are you sure that she's in the southern part? It makes no sense for her to be there."

"Does anything Momoda do make sense?" Po asked. Shifu shrugged. He had a point. "Besides, she's a South China tiger, they're usually in the lower part of China. Or at least they were."

"Were?"

"I haven't really seen another tiger since Momoda or Tigress. This will be interesting."

"Still, be careful," Shifu warned.

"We will," Po said, bowing to his master.

"And don't get distracted by her, Po."

"Hey! The others get distracted too!"

"Yes, but she likes you," Shifu smirked, "Whether you like her is a whole subject we'll talk about when you come back."

"Super," Po groaned in dread. "And Master Shifu, please keep an eye on Tigress."

"I will," Shifu smiled. Po didn't smile back. He just stared in the direction that Tigress went and joined the others at the start of the palace steps. "Take care and be careful." Waving them off, Shifu watched his pupils set off down into the village and out of the valley. It was late in the afternoon and the bright blue sky slowly turned orange, pink, and red. Master Shifu would periodically check on Tigress in her room. She would either be meditating or sleeping, but each time he visited, it would bring a small smile to his face.

At least she was resting.

Night finally came. Shifu traveled down into the village where he walked the lonely streets. Lanterns and candles slowly flickered out as the crescent moon quietly moved across the sky. He whispered to himself. "Hmm, Po's actions are concerning. More so than Momoda's. I hope he knows what he's doing." Shifu stopped in the middle of the streets and facepalmed himself. "Who am I kidding? No one knows what that panda is doing." He glanced at the glowing moon above silently shining its light back down onto the way to the Huai Difang tavern. Shifu couldn't get Po's words out of his head. "The village is quiet."

Maybe the panda was right. Maybe he was still judging a book by its cover. The red panda sighed as he stared down the moonlit street.

"Momoda isn't the only one I've been misjudging," He muttered. His careless words had caused enough damage.

"Could Po be right? Am I making the same mistake that I made of Tai Lung with the others?" The red panda stopped, peering into some vanishing point down the street. "How do I stop this from happening again?"

"Maybe," said a voice from above, "Start figuring out who they are, rather than who you want them to be?" Shifu looked up. One figure stood on a rooftop in the moonlight with arms crossed and glaring red eyes that penetrated the darkness. She jumped off and landed right in front of him. Her stare was evenly set on Shifu, never wavering in its intense rage. At least, that's what Shifu thought it was.

A minute of silence screamed by. With his heart pounding against his ribs, Shifu's battle instinct waited for an opportunity to strike, but his heart reminded him of what Po said. Shifu took a deep breath. He had to trust the giant panda. Maybe Momoda wasn't as bad as-

"I'm... sorry," She gruffly said.

Shifu's eyes widened. "...what?"

"I'm... sorry for pounding you into the dirt. It was... wrong of me," Momoda grumbled. Shifu slowly nodded.

"You're still angry with me," he noted.

"You can tell?" She asked sarcastically.

"Why?"

"You... displease me."

Shifu was at a momentary loss for words. He gave a sigh and smiled, "Well, maybe I can ease that."

"By taking me to prison?" She grumbled.

"By offering you a drink," Shifu replied, pointing to the tavern. Momoda rose her eyebrow. "My... attacks may not be the best approach in this situation. Perhaps I should... get to know you first."

"The big teddy bear set you up to this?"

"Po? Well... yes, but... I'm starting to see the wisdom in his decisions," Shifu replied. The tiger stared at the red panda and then at the tavern. Even ten yards away, the rowdy noise could be heard. Momoda motioned Shifu to follow her down a dark alley. Shifu steeled his nerves and followed, though his head immediately began talking.

A young beautiful flamboyant female tiger with an older red panda. How exactly would that look to everyone? His status and reputation would be on the line. He shook his head. No, the village was familiar enough with Momoda, right? Po was right. He needed to stop jumping to conclusions. The villagers wouldn't think that they were-

His thoughts were interrupted when they reached an older quieter tavern on the further end of town. The wooden gates barely hung on to their hinges as aged goats and pigs sat in rocking chairs on the front porch. Shifu hadn't seen this tavern before. The two went inside, waving to the old men on the creaking porch. Inside there were elderly people drinking and playing checkers. It was much quieter than Huai Difang. "I've... never been here before."

"This tavern hasn't been quiet recently. Most of the younger people go to Huai Difang and the older people come here."

"Why?"

"Quieter. Fewer bandits," Momoda answered singularly.

Shifu looked up at her. "And you... visit here?"

"I make sure that none of the messy people from Huai Difang flood over into here," She scowled at the red panda. "Despite what you believe, I do enjoy quiet every now and then." She crossed her arms, glaring into some unknown spot away from Shifu's gaze. "Some bullies used to annoy the old folk here. I make sure they're not picked on."

"I... see," Master Shifu said. "That's... very kind of you."

Momoda simply blinked and looked at a nearby table. "You're good at Go?"

"The... Japanese game? A bit."

"Good," Momoda sat down at the table. Go is simpler than chess but more complex than it. Shifu quickly re-learned how to play it, but that didn't stop Momoda from beating him. "I win."

And then they played again. The silence was noticeable, and the intense scowl on her face only looked up from the board every so often.

"You're... quiet," Shifu said.

"So are you."

"From what the others said, I... didn't expect you to be this... quiet."

"People have sides to them," Momoda grunted, slightly annoyed like she had to explain this to him for the millionth time. "You don't act the same way in front of your students as you would in front of other masters, do you?"

Shifu awkwardly cleared his throat. "No, I... I guess not."

Momoda rose an eyebrow but focused back on the game. "Po's nervousness doesn't suit you."

"Excuse me?"

"You don't have to try and impress me," the tiger said. "I know you don't get me. It's okay. You're like a parent, and I know what parents are like. Always thinking they know their child and not paying attention to who their child is."

"Why?" Shifu asked more himself than the tiger. "Why is that so?"

"I don't know. Maybe because we want the people we care about to have so much, we forget to care about the actual people in front of us. You're concerned with a possible painting of a person, not the actual person," Momoda sighed as she put her white piece in place, blocking Shifu. "That's why time passes so fast for parents. They romanticize the past and worry about the future for someone else. They want everything their children do to be perfect," Momoda growled, though it wasn't towards Shifu.

Shifu's heart grew heavy, but his courage grew bold. "Where are you from?"

"My mother."

"And she's from?"

Momoda stared at him. "Why the forward question?"

"I'm simply mimicking your tactics," Shifu smirked a bit. The tiger gave a savage grin.

"Hm, nice attempt," she said. "I'm from Northern China, boarding the tip of Mongolian territory, but I was captured and adopted from the south." Shifu nodded. That explained her being a South China tiger, although her garb didn't seem Mongolian except maybe the beads? "My father was a Chinese official. Everything had to be perfect with him. Do this. Do that!" She snarled. "It was nauseating. If it weren't for my combat training, I would've left sooner."

"Why did you leave?" Shifu questioned, moving a black piece into place. "And why come to the Valley of Peace?"

"I thought it was peaceful," Momoda smirked. "And I wanted to run away from my problems. But my problems just ended up running along with me." She looked up and grinned mockingly, "Sound familiar?"

Shifu's eyes hardened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Momoda moved another white piece. "I had several older brothers like that kitten you have up in the palace. All of them were the stars of my parents with me being the forgotten one." She glared at the board. "And when they all died or got injured, I was left. The expectations were relentless and they follow you no matter where you go!" She slammed down another piece, growling.

Suddenly, Shifu gently placed a hand on Momoda's. "I'm... I'm sorry." For a brief moment, Momoda's eyes lost all of their anger. The shock quickly evaporated into a cocksure smirk.

"Heh, it's not me you need to say sorry to."

"I know," Shifu sighed. "I know."

"And I win again," Momoda smiled. She got up and stretched her whole body, popping several cracks in the process, letting the short white vest ride up her abs. The red panda winced and turned away for a moment. "I need to go. No offense... actually I don't care. You're really boring to play with."

Shifu blinked but held a smile, "Is Po more of your speed?"

"Of course, he's actually fun to play with," Momoda smirked. "But you have enough guilt to last a lifetime."

"I... I have much to regret."

"Then stop it," Momoda growled softly though not menacingly, "It's in the past. Get over it. You made mistakes. Your life isn't over. So start making changes now."

"I'll try."

"That's all anyone can ask," Momoda said. She and Shifu walked out of the tavern. "But I hope I answered your questions."

"You did. Much more than I thought."

"Hmm," Momoda jumped over to the rooftop and darted away from the Jade Palace mountain. Though a heavy conversation, Shifu noticed a small smile gracing his lips. Shifu sighed and headed for the Jade Palace steps under the silent night. He felt a little lighter. Freer. Maybe Po was right about the tiger after all.

Suddenly, he heard a low panting. His eyes shot up the steps and saw something black and white in the distance. "Po?" The red panda rushed up the stairs and saw the panda gasping for breath. "Po? What happened?"

"Nothing... happened. Tried to... food... need... rest... dang... asthma."

"Come on, let's get you to your bed." Shifu helped the panda up and walked up the stairs to the barracks. "Easy now. Easy."

"Master Shifu? Po?" Tigress called out, coming out of her room. "What happened?"

"That's what I want to know," Shifu grunted. Po finally made it to his bed and collapsed.

"Whew, there we go. Oh man, She's... really fast," Po panted.

"She? Who?" Master Shifu asked. "Why did you come back without the others?"

"Hold on," Po grumbled with a hoarse throat. He grabbed a cup of water and finally sighed. "Ahhh, much better. Alright, here's the deal. We went around the place to find Momoda, but the villagers said they never heard of a tiger except Master Tigress. I thought that if I hurried back, I could find her. You know, make it look like we were actually leaving when we really weren't."

"So you left the others behind," Shifu put together, "but that doesn't explain why you were panting up the stairs."

"Well, I was near the village when I spotted her running."

"You... spotted Momoda?" Tigress asked. "How did you lose her?"

Po rose an eyebrow and huffed, "How do you know I lost her?"

"Do you know where she went?"

"Well... no."

"Then you lost her."

"Tigress, please," Shifu pacified. "So you were chasing Momoda but couldn't catch her."

"Yeah, so I decided to go up to the Jade Palace. That's why I was so out of breath," Po finished, looking at both of them. "What about you two? I thought you would've been on patrol."

"I've been in my room all night while Master Shifu's been patrolling," Tigress said. Po stared at the tiger much longer than normal. "What?"

"Nothing," He said calmly. "And you Master?"

"I... I was talking with Momoda."

"You what?" Tigress and Po said incredulously.

"We talked for a moment. We... discussed a bit about my actions and her history."

"Really?" Po asked. "She hasn't told me that."

Shifu smirked a bit, "You haven't asked. And I do believe she mentioned something about you being... better to play with."

"Hmph," Po huffed. "So what's your opinion of her now?"

"She's... She's... different."

"Hehe, I know the feeling."

"She gave me a lot to... meditate on. In the meantime, I'll leave you to your sleep, Po. Do you know when the others will get back?"

"They should be back by morning."

"Good," Shifu nodded. "Goodnight, Dragon Warrior, Master Tigress."

"Goodnight Master Shifu," Po and Tigress bowed. The red panda sighed with a little more lift in his voice. Po smiled a bit.

That smile soon changed when he looked at Tigress. She glared at him with a silent snarl, bearing her teeth. Before the panda could ask what he possibly did wrong, Tigress quietly marched back to her room, closing the door shut.

Continued...

A/N: Something just dawned on me. Why would an ancient Chinese person know about asthma? XD It's really been too long since we've seen another Kung Fu Panda movie.