Kung Fu Panda 4: The Return And Love Of Tai Lung

chapter 7: The Proposal

Tai Lung's ear ticked once when he heard the first calls of songbirds in early morning. Fighting back on a grumble, he opened his heavy-lidded eyes and gazed about the darkened room. He smiled fondly at the surroundings, as well as the woman sleeping in his arms.

The red lantern hanging over their heads was a souvenir from New Year, and that wall scroll a gift for Tigress after the Dragon Boat festival. On the other side of the room was a bookcase overloaded with scrolls and books of myriad subjects. He hadn't expected "The Tale of the Cowherd and Weaver Maiden" to be such a popular gift for her, but she'd loved it just the same; she said it reminded her of their relationship (though Tai Lung was of course not fond of being the cowherd in that tale). Still, she did remind him of the heavenly maiden in the tale of the Double-Seven festival.

It was a nice story, if slightly tragic. The Double Seven festival, celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month, a traditional time when unmarried men and women started looking for future spouses. The story goes that a heavenly maiden, the Weaver Girl, who wove the rich clothing for the gods, was fond of coming to earth with her sisters to bathe. A cowherd found her bathing one day and stole her clothes (something Tai Lung admitted that he wasn't above doing, depending on the girl). The maiden had no choice but to marry the cowherd to preserve her honor, but luckily, theirs was a happy marriage, resulting in many children. But the gods missed their weaver, and they stole her away from her husband and children and imprisoned her in heaven, drawing the Milky Way across the sky to separate the lovers. The maiden was inconsolable, but the Emperor of Heaven took pity on her, so on the seventh day of the seventh month, every year, he would form a bridge over the Milky Way, so that the Cowherd and his Weaver Girl could be reunited every year for that single night.

Eerie how that story applied to his own life, the snow leopard thought as he lay awake that early morning. At times, especially around Shifu, and some of the villagers, it felt like they were trying to keep Tigress away from him just as the gods tried to separate the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

Today, as a matter of fact, was the start of the Double Seven Festival, and it had taken all year to steal up his nerve to actually go. The villagers were still not too fond of him, despite him proving he had turned over a new leaf. It had taken many battles with the Furious Five and Dragon Warrior against many foes before the villagers actually started to trust him. But self-assured as he was, the glares still got to him. Only lately, as he had been spending more time in the town, the vast majority had warmed up to him, most even asking after his girlfriend…

Tigress.

He smiled. How could he have waited so long to tell her? Waiting just as long to tell Shifu was just as foolish. After about four shots, though, the red panda was oddly cool about it. Even suggesting, "Sure, share a room. What do I care? You're both adults…" Tai Lung wagered that was the alcohol talking; the master's hangover the next day confirmed it. But by then it was too late to take it back.

So here they were, snow leopard and tiger together, sharing a room, sharing a bed, sharing space…and oddly, as much as he expected it to be difficult living in such close quarters with such a temperamental woman, he was amazed how quickly they fell into a routine. Tigress was just as surprised they hadn't had a fight since they moved in together. She guessed that their daily training helped, and it probably did. Now that he was exercising regularly, Tai Lung noticed his aggression had been nearly decimated, though the sarcasm lingered.

Tigress didn't care, she liked his sarcasm; it made her laugh.

What he liked just as much, if not more, was what they were doing right now. He wrapped his arm around her torso, pulling her closer while at the same time draping the sheet further across their bodies. Tigress' head rested on his outstretched arm and she smiled in her sleep, feeding off his warmth as she slumbered in the early morning.