Zaber

The War is Over

Miwa's foot tapped impatiently on the wooden floor. She jumped up, paced around, drank some tea, tried to sleep, but she just would not sit still. Soon, Tiger came in. "You're worried about Leo?"

"Yes. What if he's hurt or worse?" Miwa fretted. Tiger laid his hand on his daughter's cheek.

"It's alright. He'll be okay. He promised he would come back unharmed," Tiger reminded.

"I said I would come back alive," Leo grunted, coming into the room. The two tigers spun around. Leo stood hunched over holding his stomach as the rest of the gang came in.

"You're back!" Miwa squealed, jumping to the wolf's arms. Leo grunted in pain. "You're hurt! Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," Leo smiled, turning red in the cheeks.

"Well?" Tiger asked the others.

"We won. The war is over. Thanks to your sister here," Po said.

"You stopped Wong-Hu's plans?" Tiger asked.

"All by herself," Po smiled at Tigress. Tiger bowed before her.

"You are the Jin-Min Warrior who was promised to bring honor and glory to the Jin-Min," He stated. Po and Tigress just looked at each other with bemused smiles.

"And to think, we were your enemy," Tigress teased.

"What makes you think you still aren't." Po laughed as Tigress playfully pushed him.

"But I couldn't have done any of this without Leo's help," Tigress said.

"Thank you. I hope you'll forgive me for all the running around we did," The white wolf grinned nervously,

"I won't," Tigress smirked. As they all talked, Po felt a small hand touch his back.

"Tigra!" Po stood at attention.

"At ease, Po," Tigra said with a suppressed laugh. "I wanted to make sure you two were okay." She pulled Tigress and Po aside to the hallway. "I overheard you took down Wong-Hu. Is that true?"

"Yes. He is gone, mother."

"Good. Now, who defeated him?" Tigra asked. Tigress looked at Po.

The panda narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"You walked off after the avalanche, and Mei mentioned that you wanted to make sure that the war was over. So... what happened to Wong-Hu?" Tigress asked. Po stood silent. His shoulders sagged and he sighed.

"Yes," Po finally said, "I killed him." He told them everything that happened. "I'll be honest," He exhaled heavily, sitting down, "I didn't think I could do it. It's been so long."

"Y...You've done this before?" Tigress asked.

"He is still a samurai," Tigra pointed out. "But now... now I know why he changed so much when you entered the scene." Silence fell. "Did you-"

"I had to do it mercifully," Po sighed. His hands trembled as he stared at the floor. Tigress gently laid her hand on his, stilling his tremors. Po looked at her smile. He took another sigh. "But yeah... it's done."

"Thank you, Po. I know it wasn't easy. It's never easy. But thank you," Tigra said with a small smile.

Po chuckled a bit, "You know, I thought you would have been mad with the way I did it."

"I'm not a warmonger, Po. People just do things to tick me off," Tigra remarked, placing her hand on her hip. "Besides, you should already know how to deal with my anger."