Kung Fu Panda Story (ORIGINAL)

Night Time Talk

    It was night time when everybody had gone to sleep. Except one. Tigress. After that day's events, she felt like she needed some fresh air. Besides, she had been cooped up in her room for days. She didn't eat or drink much since she was often thinking instead. 

Tigress knew that it wasn't recommended that she go outside by herself, but she needed her own space to think. To be honest, she wasn't allowed to be outside for another four days because of her injury and lack of energy. 

Tigress would have listened and stayed in bed, but after everything she had heard and not heard, she felt rebellious. She quietly sneaked out of her room and down the hallway towards the exit. It was dim, but she had night vision thanks to being a tiger.

 Though, even with her light footing, she was still cautious about making any sound. When was Po's snoring when you needed it? 

She opened the exit door carefully and swiftly slipped out. She was careful not to make any twisted movements for her cut still hurt badly. When she was outside in the safe zone, she went to the peach tree where the deceased Master Oogway spent most of his time at. 

She sat beside it, looking out at the village beyond her. Tigress spotted her old orphanage where she spent her early years in before Shi Fu adopted her and took her back to the Jade Palace. 'What adoption?' she thought to herself. 'Shi Fu only treats me like a mere student.'                                                         

  -You are only a student. Nothing more...-                                                                                                     

Those were the exact words that Master Shi Fu had told Tigress before. She let her legs dangle off the side for a bit then stood up again then felt a sharp pain on her stomach which was where her wound was.

 Leaning her back against the tree trunk, she looked up at the sky and said softly, "Master Oogway. I don't understand what's going on. Seriously, what's so bad about telling someone the truth? I need answers, when will I get them?" She sighed before sitting back down again with her knees close to her chest. 

She would have sworn that she saw Oogway's spirit before her and quietly say to her, "Oh, my dear, Tigress. There are many questions in the world. Though, not all can be answered by me because you have to find the answers for yourself. Master Shi Fu may be right, you know. It may be safer for everyone, if you didn't find out what happened when you fought Boulder. But, you can never be sure what will happen in the future. Remember, there is no such thing as 'accidents'. Only destinies. Maybe one day you will find yours." With that, he was carried away by the petals of the peach tree and back into the Spirit Realm. 

A loose petal landed on Tigress' nose making it twitch until the petal fell to the ground. She closed her eyes and rested her head back on the tree trunk while thinking things through once again.                                                                                                                                                                 

 "Can't sleep?" A voice made her heart jump and she opened her eyes quickly scanning around her. 

Then she turned to her left to see Po standing there. He had an armful of peaches, though he placed them on the ground and walked closer to Tigress so that they could talk properly. "Yeah." Tigress responded. "I just needed some fresh air, that's all. Why are you here?" 

Po explained, "I was awake and I heard you open the door. My curiosity got the better of me."

 "Oh, I was wondering why I didn't hear you snore." Chuckled Tigress. "Anyway, aren't you going to tell me to go back inside? I'm not supposed to be out for another four days."

 "Well even if I did, you wouldn't listen now would you?" Po chuckled. He noticed that Tigress didn't react in any way that he was used to. She didn't really react at all. She just looked down at the village again. "Tigress, what's the matter?" 

Tigress just shook her head. "You already know the answer to that, Dragon Warrior." Po sat on another side of the tree so that he only saw Tigress' tail. 

"Wanna talk about it?" Po asked. There was no response though he heard her sigh lightly.

 "I just don't get it, Po." Tigress finally said. "What's so wrong about wanting to know the truth?" She paused to think and said, "Look, I know this is out of the question. But you're lucky, you know. You have a father. TWO in fact. And they both really care about you. They're proud of you. I wonder when Master Shi Fu will be proud of me... Or even care about me." Tigress said the last part to herself but Po heard anyway. 

He said, "What do you mean Master Shi Fu doesn't care you? He does, and he is proud of you. He adopted you from the orphanage for a reason, didn't he? He's your father- technically." Po said. Tigress kept silent as she listened to Po's objections against her insisted opinion. Po conitnued, "Why do you think he picks you for all the toughest missions? It's because he knows you can handle it. That's an obvious sign that he's proud of you right? He cares about you."

 Tigress said quietly, "I wish I could believe that...If he cared, he'd at least show it. Just.. show some sort of sign... a sign that I'm not only another one of his students that just come and go."

  Little did Tigress know that Master Shi Fu was listening to her and Po's conversation behind the wall. He sighed to himself, "Oh, Tigress, of course I'm proud of you. I always was. I only don't show it because I'm afraid that you will end up like Tai Lung. Because of my praise, he came to believe that he was the Dragon Warrior. But when didn't turn out, he became evil. I don't want the same thing to happen to you too. I can't lose another important person to me. Not again..." Then he thought, 'That is also why I won't tell you the truth. I don't want to lose you...' He then went back to the Jade Palace to sleep before he got caught.

"Well, the future lies ahead of us now. Let's not focus too much on the past." Said Tigress. "And..Po?"

 "Yeah?" Po answered.

 "I just... want to apologize for.. always picking 'fights' with you. It's because... I'm afraid.. worried that you'll take the spotlight and have Shi Fu pull you into the picture and...push me out." 

Po replied, "Hey, it's absolutely fine, Tigress. I totally understand where you're coming from, but I'm glad you told me the truth. I think that's an achievement! " 

"I'm not someone who expresses their feelings often, so don't get used to it." Chuckled Tigress. 

Po said, "Actually, by the way. You know the portraits in your room? Did you.. did you really draw them all yourself?" 

Tigress said, "Oh, you guys saw?" 

Po nodded. "Of course." 

Tigress said quietly, "Well, yeah. I did." 

"Well, why didn't you ever tell us you were so good at drawing! They looked amazing!" The Dragon Warrior told her. 

Tigress smiled sadly though Po didn't see it. "I've always dedicated my life to kung fu ever since Shifu took me from the orphanage. I didn't know how he would react, so I kept that so-called 'talent' to myself. But he found out anyway, eventually. I just didn't sure how to tell everybody else. I believe it would have been quite the shocker... Besides, I leave the artistic role to Crane. He's way more into it than I am. He deserves the title."

 She closed her eyes for a while and opened them again then stood up. "I guess that's enough talk for the night then. I'm going back to bed." She turned to Po before going back inside. "Po, thanks for being here with me. I really needed someone to talk to." She smiled at Po then went inside. Po was was taken by surprise. Tigress didn't often smile to anyone. Only to herself. After a while, Po went back inside as well.

Tigress went back to her bed, but before she slept, she thought about what Oogway told her. Was it best if she didn't find out the truth? She was so confused now.