Ribbons

(inspired and requested by Arandomperson2567)

"This is pointless."

"Oh come on, Tigress, it's going to be fun!" Viper smiled. The tiger glanced at the large panda next to her who only smirked and shrugged.

"You're not going to do anything else other than train and try to avoid Po," The panda replied.

"I don't avoid, Po... when I'm not trying to train."

"And that's why we wanted you to come," Mei Mei smiled. The tiger glared quietly. She couldn't help but wonder if there were other reasons why Mei Mei wanted to go shopping with her and Viper. Tigress sighed and marched down the mountain steps with them. How she had been roped into this, she couldn't say.

But she had been roped into Po's ideas before, so she'd be lying if she said she wasn't used to it. As they traveled into the sunny village, the frown on Tigress's face worsened. Viper rolled her eyes. "You don't have to sulk all the way to the tailor, you know."

"I just wanted to train today, Viper."

"I know, but even Master Shifu said you need to take a break now and then."

Tigress scoffed a bit, crossing her arms. "He didn't say that when I was growing up," She muttered under her breath. As the three walked into the small shop filled with rolls of linen, cloth, fabrics, and more, Tigress leaned her back against the wall, waiting for them to be done.

"Ooh, you think this purple one would match my eyes?"

"Mei Mei, you have green eyes," Viper answered humorously.

"That doesn't answer my question," The panda pouted. Viper's rolling eyes caught sight of a thin red line of ribbon. Her tail gently wrapped around its end and twirled it around for a brief moment. She sighed with a small grin on her lips. "What's wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing. Just remembering the old days."

Mei Mei's jaw dropped as her hands clapped onto her pudgy face. "You used to be a ribbon dancer?! Me too!"

"You... ribbon dance?" Tigress asked from the wall.

The panda placed her hands on her hips, slightly glaring. "What's that supposed to mean? Hasn't Po told you how I won him over with my skills?"

Tigress had to hold a neutral face or else she would laugh. Po mentioned something about a weird female panda that trapped him in a ribbon before bouncing him around like a doll on a drum.

"I can't believe you're a ribbon dancer, Master Viper!"

"Well, I used to be. Back when... I didn't believe in myself," Viper sighed.

"Hey, once a ribbon dancer always a ribbon dancer," Mei Mei argued, "Besides, you're probably much better now that you have Kung Fu under your... uh... belt? Scales? I don't know."

The serpentine smiled warmly, "Thank you, Mei Mei."

"What about you, Master Tigress?"

"I don't dance," Tigress said sternly.

"Really?" Mei Mei said in genuine surprise, "The amount of times Po has called you graceful and poised, I thought you would've done some dancing."

Tigress's eyes rose a bit, but she still held her neutral face. "I didn't know that's what Po thought," She said slowly. "But no, I don't dance. Especially ribbon dance."

"Why not?" Viper asked. Tigress glanced down at her slithering friend. "Ribbon dancing would teach you about balance and posture. It could help you with your stability."

"My balance is perfectly fine, Viper."

The snake smirked, "Unless Po is there with a bowl of noodles."

"We do NOT talk about that day. Got it!" Tigress growled, but Viper held her smirk. "Besides, I... don't really have the... time or patience to learn the skill."

"So?" Both Mei Mei and Viper asked.

Tigress raised an eyebrow. "You need a great deal of patience to learn ribbon dancing, don't you?"

Viper's face fell. "Tigress, you've been dealing with Po for going on five years. I think your patience has grown enough to do ribbon dancing." Tigress's head jerked back at the usually kind snake's bluntness. "Besides, I know that's not the reason. So what is it?"

Tigress sat down on a chair nearest to the rolls of linen by the shopkeeper's counter. She crossed her arms, growling to herself a bit before she sighed. "I... Master Shifu... didn't allow me to do ribbon dancing. He thought it was a waste of time and thought it would distract me from becoming the Dragon Warrior. Or a great Kung fu master."

"That little-" Mei Mei's and Tigress's heads snapped to the snake who only took a deep breath and returned to her wide kind smile. "Well, I think that Shifu's... opinions on life are much different than they used to be. Besides, this can be good to learn if you need to use my style."

"That's not why you want me to learn it," Tigress said, squinting her eyes. The long grin on the serpent's face only uneased her more. "What about you, Mei Mei? What do you think?"

"I think it's a great idea. I mean, you're a grown woman now. And Master Shifu has retired. I know you two are close like dad and daughter but... you're you. You can't just listen to what he wants forever," Mei Mei sighed a bit, "No matter how hard you want him to accept you."

Tigress glanced at Viper who 'shrugged'. "Is... something wrong, Mei Mei?"

"My dad didn't want me to be a ribbon dancer, but I practiced in secret as a little girl. But when Shen came and... killed him," Mei Mei gave a long sigh, "I do ribbon dancing now to remember him."

"That's so awful! I'm so sorry that happened to you," Viper replied.

"It's okay. But I get it, you want to make people proud. But being yourself is the only way to make anything worthwhile happen in your life," Mei Mei smiled at the feline warrior.

Tigress exhaled long and a bit labored. She rose from her chair and sighed. "Alright."

"YES!" Viper and Mei Mei jumped before grabbing both of Tigress's hands and pulling her out of the store.

The store owner looked at the door that they zoomed out of. "So... you don't want to buy anything?" She called out to the open door.

Later, Tigress fumbled around the ribbon in her hand. The satin sheen shimmered in her paws, though she'd often let it slip right through them. They stood in the Hall of Heroes where there was more room. Tigress was more intrigued by the stunning crimson dress with a dark red sash around her waist. Flowing from shoulder to feet, the beautiful golden tiger patterns on it caught Tigress's eye.

And it fit.

The dress that Mei Mei randomly had in the back of her wardrobe fit Tigress perfectly.

Tigress's wandering eyes sharpened, "How did you find one that fits?"

"Oh that was a dress I washed and it shrunk," Mei Mei chuckled, a little embarrassed. "Alright! It's time to get a move on. Let's see what you've got."

"Umm... what do I do?"

"Just start off moving the ribbon around. Try to make different shapes," Viper said. "Let's try making a circle."

Tigress tried, but the ribbon seemed to lazily flop around. Mei Mei and Viper glanced at each other. "Uhhh, maybe put a little more energy into it," The panda smiled.

Tigress grumbled, "How am I supposed to do this? I don't even know the first thing about dancing, let alone ribbon dancing."

"You didn't know anything about Kung Fu when you started either," Viper pointed out. "Tigress, forget your expectations about this and focus on what you're actually doing. You don't have to be good at ribbon dancing."

"Then why am I doing this?"

Mei Mei rolled her eyes, making a loud scoff as she placed her fists on her hips. "Do you want to do ribbon dancing? Yes or no?"

Tigress stole her eyes from the panda's glare. "It's... been a private desire of mine... yes."

"Good enough," Mei Mei smirked. "Let's get started."

It was a long tiring session. Very little of Kung fu could prepare Tigress for this, but she gave it her all. Several times she tied herself up in the ribbon. Several more times, she got frustrated at the ribbon and ripped it to shreds, making the cloth seller very rich that day.

As she worked and failed, the tiger noticed Mei Mei was strangely quiet throughout the session while Viper gave the instructions.

After another flop onto her butt with the ribbon tied to her leg, Tigress roared and threw the ribbon to the jade floor. "GRRAAHH! This is pointless! I can't do this!"

"Tigress, it's okay," Viper soothed, "You'll get the hang of it, sweetie."

"No, I won't! How can I do this when all I'm doing is flopping on my butt! I feel like... I feel like-"

"You feel like Po when he was first training to be Dragon Warrior?" Mei Mei finally spoke up. The two warriors looked at the big panda as she got up from the ground. "That's the thing, Tigress. You're constantly worried about how you'll measure up to someone or something. You're not here to impress anyone."

"I know that."

"Do you?" Mei Mei asked with surprising seriousness. Tigress froze. "This entire time, you've been competing with something in your mind. Just because you're good at Kung Fu doesn't mean you're going to be good at other things. You still have that expectation," Mei Mei shook her head. "That's not how you learn ribbon dancing."

"Why not?"

"Because to learn this, you have to have a small amount of fun with it," Mei Mei said. "Forget about being the best here and-" She stopped short when she suddenly realized something. "OOH! OHH! That's it! Po talked about this! Viper, I need your help with something."

"Uhh... okay?" Viper slowly followed the panda while Tigress waited impatiently in the Hall of Heroes.

Just then, Po came, eating a bowl of Bao. "Hey, Tigress. What's up?... And why do you have that dress on?"

"Ugh, Mei Mei and Viper are... Wait what's wrong with the dress?"

"Nothing, nothing," Po spluttered, "It looks amazing. It's just... you don't usually try and pretty yourself up."

Tigress grumbled a bit, "Mei Mei and Viper are teaching me how to do ribbon dancing."

"Oh, that's awesome! I always knew you could be a ribbon dancer."

"Except I'm a terrible one," Tigress muttered.

"Yeah, I figured. You're going to stink at first," Po said plainly. Tigress grumbled more. "Why does it bother you so much?"

"Other than I look like an idiot flopping around with this... thing?!" Tigress growled, grabbing her outfit. "Ugh, this is a waste of time. I don't know why I agreed to do this."

"Is it a waste of time, or are you frustrated that you're not meeting your expectations?" Po asked.

Tigress groaned, "Not you too. Mei Mei mentioned the same thing. Look, having expectations of yourself isn't harmful."

"They are if they prevent you from learning," Po pointed out. The feline fell quiet. "Tigress, I'm going to tell you what Master Shifu told me... kind of. When you place so many expectations on yourself. When you try to accomplish every single one of them... you stink."

Tigress's face fell, though she couldn't stop her smirk. "Master Shifu told you that?"

"Something like it. The point is you have to give up those expectations. Life is a lot more fun and exciting when you learn to expect nothing."

"I have standards, Po."

"There's nothing wrong with standards. But expectations and standards aren't the same. Doing your best is a standard, being the best is an expectation. Maybe right now, doing your best is you... flopping around with ribbons."

"Why?" Tigress asked.

"Why not?"

"There's no point to this."

"Then make the point," Po replied. "Don't look at this whole thing like a master. Look at it like a student. Like a beginner. Because that's who you are anyway, right?" Tigress fell silent again until Viper and Mei Mei came back with a punching dummy. "Uh... what are you guys doing?"

"We've been training Tigress wrong," Mei Mei smirked. "Instead of using the ribbon for... free expression. I want you to use it like you would normally use it."

"Like what?"

"As a weapon," Mei Mei smiled with glee.

Po smiled smugly at a grumbling tiger. "Fine." Tigress held her stance, picking up the ribbon. She launched forward, whipping the ribbon around the dummy effortlessly and spinning it around. She struck the dummy hard with her fist as she used the ribbon to spin the dummy again and struck another spot.

"Great! That's perfect!" Mei Mei smiled.

Tigress rolled her eyes. "But that's not ribbon dancing. That's fighting."

"Says who?" Viper asked. "I used my ribbon dancing to fight, remember?"

"Yes... but..."

Po smiled widely and walked over to Viper and Mei Mei, saying, "It looks like you have a new way of seeing things. And a new way to train."

Tigress looked at the ribbon in her hand. A small smile slowly stretched across her face. "I guess I should get started."

Po smiled back. "Awesome."

The End