Better than Me
Tigress wasn't supposed to be at the Jade Palace so soon, but when Po heard shouts and grunts from the Training Hall, he knew who it was.
"HiYA! WHA! SHakBOOY!"
Po stopped. Then something bumped into him. "Hey! Why'd you stop?" Tai Lung grunted.
"Sorry, I... forgot you were behind me. Do you hear that?"
"Yeah, it's Tigress training her heart out to be the 'best warrior' she can be," Tai Lung grumbled.
"Yeah, but she... said something. Listen."
The snow leopard carefully heard the wind, the rustling leaves, and the exclamations of attacks. "YA! Wha! SkaPOOF!"
Tai Lung's eyes sharpened. "Ska... poof?"
"She said shakabooy the first time. That's my word!" Po exclaimed. The two ran into the Training Hall, opening the doors to see Tigress smiling and punching the air with a small panda cheering her on.
"Yay Master Tigress!" Lei Lei shouted.
Tai Lung relaxed his shoulders. "She's just entertaining the child."
"Tigress... doesn't entertain anyone," Po said ominously. Then the tiger twisted her head towards them.
"You two!" She pointed, "I want to spar with you."
"Uhh okay?" Tai Lung slowly said.
"I don't think I want to-
"Now!"
"Yes ma'am," Po quickly got into the training pit with Tai Lung cracking his stiff neck. Tigress jumped into the pit, smiling. The panda gulped, "I don't know if this is a good idea."
"It's not like she's going to beat both of us. Her style is fairly predictable," Tai Lung muttered.
The panda shook his head. "That smile on her face says different. I don't know why, but I think we're in for a really... weird fight."
"Ah, I see you three are training," Master Shifu said as he walked in.
"Master Shifu, could you please spar with us?"
"WHAT?!" Tai Lung, Po, and Master Shifu all exclaimed.
The giant panda walked up to her and felt her forehead. "Okay, you're not sick. What's going on?"
"Nothing, Po," Tigress smiled. "I just... I want to try something new."
"You know you're going to lose at this, right?" Tai Lung said. "Us against you isn't the fairest fight."
"I know," Tigress took a long breath and then smiled. "I'm not here to win."
"Then what?" Shifu asked.
"Please just...humor me." Shifu looked at Tai Lung who only shrugged at his former master. The red panda stepped into the pit and faced off. The four of them stood in a square with Shifu on Tigress's right and Po on her left.
"Remember, have fun!" Lei Lei cheered from the sidelines.
"I'll remember," Tigress chuckled. Po narrowed his eyes. He felt crazy to think it, but he could've sworn that Tigress was... being coached by Lei Lei?
"Begin!" With Shifu's shout, Tigress launched at Tai Lung first. The snow leopard swung a kick, but the tiger grabbed onto his leg like Lei Lei would to her leg. Rooting her feet to the ground, she whirled him around and crashed him into Po. Shaking off his momentary shock, Shifu leaped at Tigress, striking at precise points for her to counter. The tiger ducked and blocked, but she took damage at her sides. When he went for her legs, she jumped up, planted her hand on Shifu's head, grabbed it, flipped, and threw the red panda over to Tai Lung and Po.
"Ugh, is there a reason why she's tossing us around like dolls?" Tai Lung grumbled.
"It's not her usual style," Shifu groaned. They suddenly looked up and saw the tiger's foot about to crash onto them. The three jumped out of the way. As her foot stomped the ground, dust kicked up. Po coughed. Suddenly, something tossed him up into the air and bounced around.
"Wahhh! Help!" He yelped. As the dust settled, Tai Lung and Shifu saw the tiger on her back, playfully lobbing Po up like he was nothing more than a ball of yarn. The snow leopard wiped his eyes just to make sure he was seeing it.
Shifu charged forward just for Tigress to jump and kick Po towards him. Shifu ducked and Roundhouse kicked the tiger's side. Grunting, she blocked it with her arm while Tai Lung attacked from the other side. The two landed another double punch on Tigress, forcing her back. She slid along the ground. She tripped up and landed on her back. Her eyes shot open, and she jumped to her feet. When Shifu tried to kick her again, she jumped again, hanging horizontally for a few moments.
With a wide grin, she struck the red panda across the face with the back of her hand, throwing Shifu far to the side.
"Whoooa!" Po exclaimed, holding Tai Lung back. "That's new!" The panda saw Tigress's stance. It was different from usual. Two feet stood in a wide stance while her right arm draped like it was dislocated. Her left hand hovered in a clutch like she was holding someone's severed head. Po gulped. She had a wide wild smile that the bear had never seen in his life.
Tai Lung shook his shock off and rushed her. Tigress ran on all fours and went into a flying kick. Tai Lung stopped and stood his ground. But the tiger's kick was much further back. There was no way it could hit him from that distance.
It didn't need to. Both her feet touched the ground. She went into a handstand. Her front still faced Tai Lung. Her legs quickly grabbed the sides of his head. She pushed herself up and slammed both fists right into Tai Lung's gut. The snow leopard hunched over and wheezed. Tigress released him, grabbed him by his arm, and rolled him over her shoulder. Just then, Shifu leapt out of his wreckage in a flying kick, only to hit Tai Lung squarely in the gut.
"AHH! Stop using me as a shield!" Tai Lung grunted. Tigress grabbed the snow leopard's foot and swung him around, smacking the red panda and snow leopard into Po's belly. The three groaned as they slowly stood back up. "Ugh... How is she fighting like this?"
"This isn't how she usually fights," Shifu said.
"I think that's the point," Po murmured, running towards her. The tiger ran on all fours and roundhouse kicked the panda's side. Po blocked it. He grabbed her leg and tried to flip her, but the tiger did something... unconventional. She dropped herself to the ground while Po still held her leg, and struck the panda's leg with all her might with the other foot. "OOOOOWWW!" Po released her leg. Tigress jumped up and kicked Po squarely in the gut. He flew back to Tai Lung and Shifu. He bounced back on one of the pillars like he did when he first met Tai Lung. The snow leopard knew this move. Po's gut, body, and over all technique could redirect a lot of attacks. So even though Tigress struck him hard, he would just go flying back with the same force.
But as Po flew past them, Tai Lung and Shifu saw Tigress charging forward. As Po's belly flew back, she grabbed him by the feet, flipped him and her in midair, and slammed his body onto the two warriors, leaving all three of them in the dust.
Shifu, Po, and Tai Lung groaned. "Okay, can we... not be tossed around again," Po muttered.
"Redirecting Po's counter," Tai Lung coughed. "Didn't think it could be done at... that power. OOOohhhh wow, you're really heavy."
"She's definitely become... unpredictable," Shifu grunted as they all crawled out of the pile heap. "And she's hitting much harder than normal."
"What?" Tai Lung and Po said.
"I've... always taught Tigress to control her strength."
Tai Lung's face paled. "So... she was holding back when I fought her on the bridge?"
"Unconsciously, I believe."
"Okay, let's try this again. Together?" Po suggested. Tai Lung and Shifu nodded, preparing for their attack. Tigress stood in her normal fighting stance: Her right arm stretched forward while her left rose above her head.
Po and Shifu charged first, punching and kicking her sides. She jumped back. Tai Lung lept over and kicked down to the ground. Her arm blocked his attack and the other grabbed Po's punch aimed at her chest. She pushed them towards Shifu on her left, knocking them over. Po flipped over her and tried to grab her swinging left foot. Tigress stopped, jumped, and kicked both Po and Tai Lung in the face in a split kick. She came down on all fours and ducked Master Shifu's flying attack. The red panda, with his back facing her for a brief moment, felt his tail get grabbed. He tensed and wailed as Tigress used Shifu as a shield against Po's punch. Po stopped. Tigress shoved the two pandas away, giving her room to duck Tai Lung's kick. She grabbed onto his leg again.
"Oh no," Tai Lung muttered.
"Oh yes," Tigress smirked. He tried to use the other foot to kick her, but Tigress ducked and threw the snow leopard into Po and Shifu before jumping back.
"Ughhh," Tai Lung groaned with Po and Shifu.
Tigress backed away, panting heavily with a large grin. As her breathing calmed down, the three slowly got back up. But her left leg swung up and she fell backward to the ground, arms spread out wide as she faced the ceiling.
"HahaHahahahaha! Yay Tigress!" Lei Lei laughed from the sidelines.
Tigress turned her head towards Lei Lei and started to laugh, smiling widely at the small panda. The others slowly approach her on all sides.
"I'm... guessing this means you're... done?" Po asked. "Please be done. I don't want to be tossed around again."
"I'm finished. I had fun."
"Fun?" Tai Lung echoed. "You... rarely have fun. I didn't think it was in your vocabulary given your... history."
Tigress smirked at the snow leopard as she rolled upright, though still on her rear. "There's history. And then there's the present."
Tai Lung slowly nodded and cracked his back. "Well, you struck my body hard enough to make my pain present. I think I should get some healing."
"I will say, Master Tigress, though your style of Kung Fu was... highly unconventional it... does seem to suit you well. It's not something I would've done, but-"
"Exactly," Tigress smiled, making Po's eyes widen. "I wanted to try something different."
"Why?"
"Why not?"
"That's not a real reason," Shifu said, narrowing his eyes.
"I think what Tigress is trying to say is that she wanted to... branch out. And she did awesome! Right?" Po said.
The red panda glanced up at him and sighed, "Yes, I'd have to agree with Po. Continue training then. You've improved greatly over such a short amount of time. What changed?"
"I started cooking," She said with such seriousness that Shifu actually chuckled.
"Very well then. I'll leave you to your... cooking training."
"Everyone's into puns lately," Po mumbled, "I feel like I'm behind." As Shifu left the two alone with Lei Lei, Po helped Tigress up from the ground. "Hey, Tigress, can I ask you something?"
"Why did I do all of that?"
"What's wrong? Really?" Po asked seriously.
Tigress still smiled but sighed, "I... do want to learn how to cook, but lately... I feel like my passion for Kung Fu has weaned. I think that's what's caused my stagnation. But... over my time with Mr. Ping, I was... comparing myself to everyone. Everyone felt... better than me."
"So you... chose cooking?" Po asked.
"To distract me from the problem. And because I did want to learn it. I was comparing myself to you and Tai Lung. I felt like I was less than. But working with your father made me realize that I can't copy someone else. The moves and techniques are the craft and Kung Fu is the art. The art of expressing yourself. But when you're comparing yourself to someone else, you... can't help but copy.
"Like Tai Lung did?"
"I... yes," Tigress sighed. "I thought I stopped doing that when I became part of the Furious Five. But... it never stopped."
Po rested a hand on her shoulder, offering a small smile. "And now?"
"Now? I... don't feel any pride, jealousy, or insecurity, or have to worry about the fear of unchecked ambition. I still... want to make Shifu proud of me, but... I realize there's nothing I can do to change that. That's his decision, not mine."
"Because he's always been proud of you. Always has. And always will," Po smiled. The tiger smiled back until she realized a hand pulling at her pants leg.
"That was cool, Ms. Tigess!" Lei Lei exclaimed.
"It was," Po agreed. "I didn't think you could hit that hard."
"I hold a lot of my strength back because of Shifu's early training, I suppose. Now, I can better use and control that strength." Tigress gave a smiling shrug as she picked up Lei Lei. "Come on, Lei Lei, I think we need to get you back to your mother."
"Okay."
The two left the Training Hall with Po smiling widely. He stepped out of the Hall's doors and glanced towards the Heavenly Peach Tree. But this time, the dark memories didn't swirl around.
A different thought came. The time Oogway talked to him on that fateful night. He wondered if the tortoise would like this new training. Either way, Po could see the old master smiling at Tigress.
"Thou shalt not covet [desire or yearn for] anything that is thy neighbor's" Exodus 20:17
Based on the music animation: Everyone's better than me.
A/N: Honestly, this whole book is actually based off of the music Family by Mother Mother. I can just imagine a lot of these things happening with that music going on in the background.