The Reason

It was a beautiful sunny morning today in the Valley Of Peace. Leo was meditating underneath the Peach Tree. He opens his eyes and spots Po and Mantis heading down to the village. The young man did hear that the Festival Of Figurines was happening today. That reminds him of those anime conventions that his friends go to. He'll admit that some costumes he came across is weird while others...

"Heh." Leo chuckles softly. He remembers Panther and a few others went to one of those in China and Japan. It was good to see them having fun. That was five years ago before everything changed and went to hell. Leo thought it was the right thing to do after what happened that night. He didn't want those he care about gets hurt by him. And that's when the nightmares gotten a lot worse.

Those damn nightmares have never went away. Leo knew he'll never be rid of these nightmares for the rest of his life. While Leo was in deep thought, he felt a tail tap on his shoulder. The human opens his eyes and turns his head to the left and looks down to see Viper looking at him.

"Viper? What are you doing out here?"

"I wanted to see if you're doing ok after... what happened yesterday." Viper answered.

"I'm fine, Viper."

"Are you sure? Because when I heard from Tigress that you faced Ding on your own, I was a little surprised."

"Hm." Leo said. He looks up to see Tigress walking up to them. "Tigress. Hi."

"Hi Leo." Tigress greeted him. "Viper, will you Leo and me to talk alone in private?"

"Of course." Viper nodded her head and slithers away.

"May I sit with you?"

Leo gestured his hand, allowing Tigress to sit next to him.

"Are you doing ok from yesterday, Tigress?" Leo asks her.

"Yes, I am, Leo." Tigress replied. "We all missed you from dinner last night."

"My apologizes. I wanted to take my time cleaning that Master Shifu gave me yesterday." Leo replied.

"Did you eat last night?"

"I only had one piece of tofu last night and I didn't eat anything after that."

"You shouldn't have just one piece of tofu, Leo. Every master needs to eat. How come you didn't eat?"

"I wasn't hungry that much."

"Leo, why did you fight Ding alone?" Tigress looks at him.

"Because there's no way in hell I was going to let him control my mind and body." Leo answered, looking at her. "Before Ding possessed my body, I thought about the fields behind the Tao Palace in my mind and I focused on that. There were others that in my mind I had to close off. When I saw you and Po inside my mind, I didn't have time to think about that and focus my attention on Ding. The battle was getting nowhere and I had no choice but to have you and Po sit out that would allow me to... remember a event." He clenches his fist.

"Go on."

"During the battle, I had to think about the diamond sword that would help me. Then I thought about getting big to even the playing field before the battle was resume. And after I grew, I went attacked him without mercy and killed him."

"Leo, when Po and I fought Ding outside of your body, he tried to use his orbs and the orbs didn't moved. How did you do that?" Tigress asks him.

"I held my mind back. This wasn't the first time I had to fight in my own mind. But the second reason why is if Ding had complete control over me, he would've used my memories to create something more powerful than the helicopters."

Tigress nods her head slowly. "I see."

"So that's why I wanted you and Po to sit this one out." Leo said.

"Leo." She places a paw on his shoulder. "I understand why. You wanted to protect us from more of your stuff from your world, right? There are more than those helicopters."

"I don't want another repeat of what happened in Gongmen City. Having that kind of technology here is not good."

"Leo, you don't have to worry about that." Tigress wraps his shoulders. "The people of China may not have the same knowledge as you and Panther, but when it comes to working together, we can achieve anything as a team."

"Thanks." Leo said to her. "Now let me ask you something. Why did you let your jealousy get the best of you?"

Tigress paused for a moment before she spoke. "I didn't want to lose to Po, Leo. His skills have improved, but I still wanted to beat him in any contest of strength. I thought I had him, but I lost."

"And you took your anger on the wooden warriors in the Training Hall."

"Yes. I didn't want to face the truth that Po has become... better than me. The others tried to cheer me up until Crane's words gave me an idea. An idea that would help me win."

"And that's when you released the Spirit Orbs of Master Ding."

"Yes. That's why Po and I left to go after the Spirit Orbs and bring them back."

"I never did believed that Po would catch them after they were released."

"And we both know what happened next."

"Yes we do." Leo said as he stands up to stretch his muscles. "And I have to say that Ding was no match for my mind."

"There's something else I've been wanting to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Leo asked her, turning to look at her.

"Why did you forgive me that easily after the things I said to you that night?" Tigress asked her.

He sits down in front of her. "Because you made a mistake." Leo replied. "There wasn't anything I can do to hold everyone in place when Du cut my back. After I heard that Chao announced Shifu was no longer the Master Of The Jade Palace and my attacker might be around, I had no choice to make a regrettable decision to challenge Chao and keep the mysterious attacker to myself until the situation has been resolved. But things didn't work out as Junjie became the Grand Master and we were all forced to leave the palace. And just when I thought things couldn't get a little worse, you and I had an argument."

"I remember."

"When you left me that night, I began my investigation to look for clues of who attacked me and I lived in the Wu Dan Mountains for the next two weeks. I met up with Qiao and she told me she's looking for Du. I explained what happened and the two of us did some recon in those two weeks. She wanted me to come with her, but she didn't, knowing that we'll run into each other. I didn't need your help because Du Heng is just a teenager."

Tigress nodded her head.

"On the final day of the second week, Qiao asked me if I'm going to apologize of what I said that night and especially you, Tigress. I was a little hesitant at first. If I told you about my intentions that night, you would be even furious at me. I hope you can forgive me."

Tigress lowered her head before she looks back up at him. "Before I do, I want you to hear what I was thinking in those two weeks."

"Go ahead."

"During those two weeks, I was angry at you. I didn't you give a chance to explain that night. If you did explain about what happened that night, then I would've understood why'd you do it. I'm sorry for what I said. And I accept your apology."

"Thanks, Tigress." Leo smiles at her. She leans in and peck him on the cheek. Leo watches her to stand up and leave. He smiled a bit until his expression became stern. Leo didn't need their help when Enya was alive back then. Panther couldn't believe it. Now Enya has somehow mysteriously survived after their last encounter.

The time to explain Enya and his connection will come one day. Leo was a little worried if Po, Shifu and the Five finds out about this. Or the White Tail Beast Kaira. Or the reason why he used to do Kung Fu because of that terrible incident five years ago. Leo did mention to Shifu about it but didn't fully explain about it. When Leo explained about his visions and nightmares, he felt himself letting go a small portion of the past behind. But when Leo told them how he killed Sying, that small portion came rushing back. He was a little glad that no one saw what he did in that ring of fire, but Panther knew what he did.

After the events in Gongmen City learning Kaira resides in him, Leo has been looking through the scrolls in the past few months for an answer. Leo hopes that they don't find out. Because if they do, Leo will have to make that decision.

Author's Note: This chapter was pretty short. I like where I went with this chapter. It's pretty good. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to leave a review!