Dear Master Tigress,
I'm very much pleased with your progress with Lotus. The fact you feel so safe in the Panda Village is all I can ask for.
Unfortunately, despite my happiness for you settling in the Panda Village, I'm afraid I need you to make a premature farewell. Another mission that is required for you to come to the Valley of Peace. Unbecoming circumstances occurred and now, the thousand year prophecy of the Dragon Warrior must be fulfilled. There is a tournament happening at the Jade Palace and we need all of Shifu's students at attention.
I do recommend bringing this Lotus fellow of yours with you. It would be nice to meet the descendant of my only chi student. And I have a good feeling that there is room for greatness for him.
I suggest you leave the dawn after reading this, for the sake of you coming home as soon as possible.
Take care, my student.
Sincerely, Oogway.
P.S, tell Lotus I said hello as well. He seems like a delight!
The feline and the ursine read the letter together. Tigress knew it was urgent since the letter blew in through a mirage of lotus petals and only Oogway would ever be associated with that, but she didn't know it was this serious. She still wondered the logic behind the dancing lotuses and how they conveniently blew to places they exactly needed to be.
"Whoa! Oogway knows who I am!? AND HE WANTS ME TO COME WITH YOU! EEEEEE! I gotta pack my bags as soon as possible!" The panda ecstatically claimed, ready to run off his room to pack his belongings, before he was suddenly pulled back by his hood and slammed to the ground on his back. A quite common thing Tigress did to grab his attention. "AUGH! Oof!" He exclaimed as the tiger stood over him, unimpressed.
"Slow down, 'Master Cheetah'," She sarcastically called before kneeling down in front of Lotus' fallen form. "I know you're excited, but I hope you're not forgetting the one problem with you leaving."
Lotus pouted. "I promise I won't pack up ALL my posters!"
Tigress shook your head. "That's not what I meant. Don't you remember the one thing your father told you your entire life?"
After a moment of realisation, Lotus sighed disappointingly and sat himself up, albeit with a bit of struggle. "That's right... no one gets in..."
"Or gets out." Tigress rose back up to her feet and helped her companion up as well. Meanwhile he groaned in minor frustration. "How are we supposed to convince my dad of all people that I have to leave the village? I never left the village before! Let alone have him agree to it..." He crossed his arms and muttered.
The feline placed a comforting paw on his shoulder. "We'll figure it out. If he was willing to accept an outsider like me, I'm sure he'll be more open to letting you leave the village, especially if it's from the word of Oogway himself." She took her paw off the panda's shoulder and brought it to her chin in contemplation.
"I think."
Her best efforts to mutter those words under her breath were met in vain as Lotus gulped nervously. "You THINK?" Tigress quickly caught her mistake as her ursine companion started to shake in panic. "Don't worry. We'll just talk to Li Shan tonight at the village square for dinner."
Slowly but surely, Lotus nodded. "Fair enough. I mean at least it won't give him a chance to murder me on the spot with witnesses around—"
"Lotus."
"Okay, okay! He's probably NOT going to kill me!" The panda chuckled lightheartedly, still keeping the 'probably' in mind. "I'm still going to try and dress nicely, though."
Tigress arched her eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because if I'm going to meet my mom in the Spirit Realm by the end of tonight, I better make a good impression."
The tiger sighed in dismay at Lotus' bitter joke.
Music reigned in the air as pandas ate, danced and sang along. Little cubs played at the feet of all the adults. Even Li Shan couldn't help but smile and join in on the fun dinner escapades. His son and his son's mentor, however, were a different story. Lotus was nervously shifting in his seat, noticeably sweating, whilst Tigress held nothing but concern as she cradled Lei Lei on her lap. A small part of her also felt a little guilty when holding the cub, knowing there won't be much time left to have her safely in Tigress' arms.
Li, noticing both their absent minds, gently put his paw on his son's shoulder. "Lotus, are you alright? You're sweating..."
"Oh I'm fINE! AHAHAHA!" Lotus exclaimed, making Tigress gently face palm herself. Even still, the young panda did his best to hold his nervous, wide smile to his father, admittedly freaking him out even more. "I-It's probably just the spicy noodles being... well... spicy! Eheh... I'm fine, don't worry!"
Sceptically, Li tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at his son. "O...kay... then?" He glanced at the feline and saw that she was trying not to hold eye contact at all. He doesn't know what they're hiding, but they do seem insistent on not telling him. After what seemed like forever, Li Shan at last sighed. He stood up and started walking away from the village square table, silently gesturing to both of them to follow him. The ursine and feline looked at each other, Lotus visibly more nervous than Tigress. She gave him a look to reassure him and they both stood to walk with Li. Tigress set Lei Lei down to play with the other kids and briefly told her she would be back before catching up with the panda son and father.
Li led them to a secluded area behind the village square to be away from all the socialising. Once the three of them were away from the crowd, Li sternly turned to him with arms crossed.
"Look, I am in quite a good mood today, so I won't waste my energy getting possibly upset. So I suggest you both tell me what's going on with you two before this hungry panda," He pointed to himself, "turns into a hangry panda. Talk."
Lotus turned to the tiger, his nervous expression definitely more apparent than before. Tigress rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. Li attempted to put two and two together.
"... Wait a minute... did something happen while you two were alone training?"
His son's expression quickly turned into one of confusion. "Huh?"
"I mean... did you guys..." Li made a gesture with his hands, making Lotus blush in embarrassment. "OH MY GOSH DAD, NO!"
"What? What did he think happen?" Tigress asked, oblivious as to why both the pandas looked flustered.
"Listen, son, I know you're old enough to make your own decisions but if something happened I at least want to know if you were safe about it—"
"DAD. NOTHING HAPPENED!" Lotus clarified, easing one of his father's worries. "Well then, no need to beat around the bush! What's going on?"
The ursine once again turned to his feline companion in reassurance. She softly nodded her head and gave him the scroll that held the letter.
"Dad..." Lotus took a deep breath and opened the scroll for his father to read.
"A letter came in today. It's from... Master Oogway." Li steadied his gaze on his son, bit by bit realising what was happening. For once, though, he let his son speak as he took the scroll and read through its contents.
"Look, I know this is sudden, and... I know you're tired of me begging to go out in the world. I know you're scared of a panda going out into the world because Lord Shen might be out there still. And I know you're worried about me because you don't want to lose me the same way... we lost mom. But I promise you, I am so capable now! I-I can defend myself and I have one of the most experienced masters as my mentor and one of the most historic masters wanting to meet me! I have to go out to the Valley of Peace—"
"Okay."
"—A-and explore the world like you and mom did and I just hope you would understa—... wait, what did you just say?"
Li shrugged. "I said okay."
Lotus' eyes became as wide as plates, his shoulders and jaw both slacked. He turned to Tigress, as if to gain witnesses to what he never thought would come out of his father's mouth. Tigress seemed to be just as confused and shocked.
The young panda turned back to his father. "You're... not messing with me, are you?"
Li quirked up his eyebrow. "No..?"
"You're not silently planning a murder either?"
"What!? Goodness, Lotus, no!" Li sighed and gently placed his paws on his son's shoulders. "Look, as much as I despise the thought of you going out to the outside world, I... I know you're old enough to choose your own fate. And you're just as capable too. I've seen your progress with Tigress. It's just as strong as your mother's determination in kung fu! So I can trust you enough. I mean, against my judgement, I decided to trust your friend, Tigress. And with how she's the best thing that ever happened to you, I don't regret it one bit."
Tigress felt her tail swish and her heart warm at that statement. She kept herself composed for the sake of not intruding on Li and Lotus.
"So... I can choose to trust you too. I just..." Li's soft smile turned into one of solemn as he cupped Lotus' face gently. "I really don't want to lose you..."
Lotus smiled and placed his paw over his father's. "Dad... you won't. I promise. I'll write and visit as much as I can!" He beamed. Li Shan's ears gently fell, his smile still sad but a little lighter now with his boy's reassurance. Hesitatingly, he released.
"Alright then. Let's get you packed! When do you have to leave?" He turned to Tigress, who had been respectfully silent amidst the sentimental moment between the father and son. She cleared her throat. "Tomorrow at dawn, sir."
Li grimaced. "Phew, talk about early..." He laughed nervously. "Well, I suppose we'll need an early night of sleep. But how are we going to manage that along with announcing this to the village and packing?"
"Oh, you don't need to worry about me packing..." Lotus excitedly stated, flapping his arms a bit at his sides. "I already did that in advance!"
Li and Tigress exasperatedly shook their heads, both with smiles of endearment on their faces. They both thought the same thing at that moment. 'Of course he did...'
For the first time ever in panda history books, all members of the panda village woke up before noon. Even more impressively, they managed to be up before the sun even rose, despite all their tired statures. Every one of them gave their goodbyes to Lotus and Tigress, some less willing to say goodbye than others. It was already difficult seeing Lei Lei refrain from letting go of Tigress' leg with tears in her beady violet eyes. It broke the tiger's heart. She made a promise that she wouldn't forget Lei Lei and that she would visit the cub as soon as she could. The urge to just take the child with Tigress was apparent, but she ultimately went against that urge for the sake of Lei Lei's safety. Big Fun, the village hugger, didn't hesitate from giving both tiger and panda a bone crushing hug despite not knowing what was going on. Mei Mei respectfully surprised the both of them with a bow, but couldn't resist giving Lotus just one last hug. Not for anything romantic, she just humbly admitted she would miss him. Grandma Panda adoringly gave the two aspiring travelers paw-made umbrellas for if it rained, much to the amusement of the two of them. And finally, Li Shan came forth, obviously giving his son one big last hug.
"Please be careful." He whispered through teary eyes. Lotus smiled sadly. He did hate seeing his dad upset. "I will."
Unexpectingly, however, after releasing Lotus and stating how much he would be missed, Li then turned to the more sheltered tiger and gave her a great hug as well. A touch of fatherly affection of which she had never felt before, so of course she was stunned.
Before even considering hugging the giant panda back, he set her down and looked her sincerely in the eye. "I have an important mission for you..." She silently urged him to go on. "Please just promise me that no matter what happens... you'll protect my son."
Slowly, Tigress nodded her head. "With my very life, Li."
Li cupped Tigress' face and smiled, satisfied with her answer, before at last taking a step back and going to a hidden lever behind the entrance.
Lotus longingly looked at his father as well as at all the surroundings of his village. With a hint of fear, he gave a small wave to everyone he's ever known, loved and more, and then turned to the feline already standing on the hidden elevator meant to take them down. Putting on his hunky backpack, he stepped on the elevator with the feline. It's remarkable how it could hold them both.
With a deep, uneasy breath from Li Shan, he finally pulled the lever, taking the step he never thought he would take and letting his son be free. He quickly ran to the edge of the entrance to catch the last glimpses of his boy before seeing him descend to the cold fog below.
That was that. He did it. He let Lotus go. Despite falling to his knees and breaking down in tears, his heart couldn't be anymore lighter. He knew the heaviness in his heart lifting was thanks to his late wife. He smiled through his tears and looked into the sky, as if to try and catch the sight of his beloved in the heavens above.
"I did it, Lily..." He whispered bittersweetly.
Whilst that was occurring up in the mountains, the more the two warriors descended down the elevator, the more the inner conflict Lotus had started to ever so settle. Before he knew it, he and his feline partner and mentor made it to the snowy bottom of the mountain. Tigress had no trouble getting off the device and settling her feet into the ground. She already attempted to march off to start their adventure but sensed Lotus' hesitation. She turned to the panda who looked intently to the ground. His breaths were visibly smokey and shaky, but the shakiness wasn't because of the cold. Nor was his paws shaking against the rope holding the elevator up thanks to the cold either.
Admittedly, in his head, he was... scared.
Despite wishing for years to get out of this place, a small part of him felt comfort in the mundane life of being stuck here for the rest of his days. So to finally get his wish and leave the only place he's ever known...
It felt so... surreal. And terrifying. And exhilarating and frightening and—
"Lotus?"
A voice calls to him. A voice that seemed to snap him out of a bit of his worries. He looked up and saw the tiger in front of him, tenderly laying her paw out to him this time.
Well, how the tables have turned here.
"Are you coming?"
Lotus stumbled a bit over his words, gripping tighter on the rope. "I... I don't know if I'm ready."
Softly, Tigress smiled. "Well you'll never know if you unless you take the step..." She stretched her arm closer to the fearful panda. Meanwhile, the sun started to break out of the clouds to genuinely start the morning, coincidentally right behind Tigress.
"We can take it together."
At last, Lotus returned the smile. The view of the sun behind Tigress was warm and inviting, as if she truly became his light. Reassured, he took Tigress' paw and slowly but surely...
He finally took a step.
And then another.
And before he knew it, he was at last standing on the Earth he ever so craved of joining. The beauty of it all brought small tears into his eyes. Or maybe it was staring into the rising sun for too long that made him teary. Either way, among his millions of uncertainties, there was one thing he was for sure of...
With every step he takes, his light would take one with him.