Kung Fu Panda Story (ORIGINAL)

The Truth

Master Shi Fu was in his room doing his meditation when he heard Master Oogway speak to him. "Tigress has the right to know. You can't keep this from her forever." 

Master Shi Fu sighed, "She will not be able to resist her powers, Master. Evil will more than likely control her...She'll turn her back on me. I can just feel it." 

Master Oogway responded, "She's grown up already. She can handle herself. And exactly why would Tigress turn her back on you?" 

Master Shi Fu replied guiltily, "Because I've been a terrible father. To be honest, I haven't been much of a father at all. I've scolded her, beaten her and punished her for stupid reasons. I've ignored her for her entire life! There is no excuse why she shouldn't turn on me."

Oogway told Master Shi Fu gently, "For something she's not even familiar with? She's only ever tried to make you proud, Shi Fu, but how can she if you don't even talk to her? I know the incident with Tai Lung has left you scarred, and you're afraid that Tigress will end up just like him. But you must guide a light in the right direction if you want it to shine brighter than the rest. If you get to know Tigress just a little more, you will see that she is much more than you think she is. Even the most hardcore exterior has emotions burning inside. Promise me that you will help her find her destiny..." With that, Oogway's voice disappeared.

 Shi Fu opened his eyes and sighed again. "I have to make things right." He said to himself.

The Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior were in town. They stopped by at Po's father's noodle shop and had lunch there. Po told his dad, Mr Ping, "We'll have one bowl of dumplings, two Justice Soup Noodles and a Spicy Noodle Soup with extra sauce for Tigress. On the side right?" He called out behind him. 

"Always on the side." Tigress stated with her arms folded. After they finished ordering, they sat down at a table near the counter. 

 Tigress was as distant as she was in the morning, though she still heard Mantis' question. "Po, Tigress. Who won?" 

"Won what?" asked Po looking confused as Tigress looked up. 

Mantis answered, "You know. This morning. The dual match thing. Who won?"

 "Ohh, that." said Po, trying to not look uncomfortable. 

Tigress simply said, "I won." Well, it was the obvious choice. 

"Yeah. Yeah, Tigress won." said Po relieved.

 Viper said, "I almost beat Monkey, but he distracted me by telling me with one of his confusing jokes."

 Monkey laughed, "You should seen have her face! She was so confused! Her expression was priceless!" Viper and Tigress just rolled their eyes and the guys just started laughing for some weird reason. 

When they stopped, Mantis stated, "I obviously won to Crane. He had no idea where in the world I was! I was all like, whoosh, whoosh, zoom! You should have seen me! I won so easily!-" 

"-OK, Mantis!" Tigress interrupted sarcastically. "We get it. You're 'awesome'." Their conversation ended there as the heroes' food had arrived. They ate in silence and after they finished eating, they heading back to the Jade Palace to train.

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Master Shi Fu was watching them as they all trained and nodded his head in approval. After their training session had finished for everyone to have dinner and retire for the night, Shi Fu told Tigress to join him for a while. Tigress obediently obeyed, though she was still mad at her mentor. 

They journeyed up the mountain to the place of Sacred Tears. Tigress was wondering why Master Shi Fu brought her here. The only time he let one of his students follow him up here was when he was training Po to become a warrior. 

Tigress was about to question her master, but he was already giving her an explanation. "Tigress. I have brought you here for a very important reason." Master Shi Fu said in a serious tone. Tigress gave a confused look. Shi Fu answered, "It is about your past. When you defeated, Boulder, you did something that... has a link to who you are."

Tigress' perked up a little, but said, "I don't care about my past. I only want to know the truth." The only thing was, she had lied. She had always wanted to discover who she was, but didn't want anyone else involved in it. Even her master.

 "Then you will get it." Shi Fu replied to her statement. So he explained everything to Tigress. About how she defeated Boulder and how this new ability links up to her past. 

"So, what's the link then?" Asked Tigress. 

"The link is that the power you possess, could only be possessed by a member from the royal family of tigers." Master Shi Fu said. 

Tigress was trying to work things out in her mind. "So does this mean..." 

"Yes." Shi Fu answered. "You are part of the royal family of the tigers." 

Tigress then gave a confused look. "Then, then why did they leave me at an orphanage? Did... did they not want me? Are there even any other tigers still alive?" 

Shi Fu shook his head sadly at her last question. "All the tigers died during the civil war. It was between the Good and the Bad of the tigers. The royal family was split in half. I believe your parents left you at the orphanage for safe keeping. They probably wanted to keep you away from the war."

Tigress was deep in her thoughts and was frowning. She linked this information up with the dream she had last night, but she wasn't too bothered to say anything about it to Shi Fu. She then said, "Why did you keep this from me? It's not really a big deal. Like I said, I don't care about my past. (Which is a lie.) All the tigers are dead, which more than likely includes my parents."

 Master Shi Fu sighed and said truthfully, "I was worried that you wouldn't take things so easily and go off on your own to search for your birth place. I was worried that you'd turn your back on me." 

This made Tigress worry. Right from the moment her mentor told her about her past, she had intended to search for her birth place anyway. Yet now, she was worried to let her master down and do the exact thing her didn't want her to do, even though she'd always thought that he didn't care about her. Tigress muttered to herself, "Why do you even care. I've only been a nuisance to you."

Her master still heard her though, and was shocked. "Tigress, of course I care. What makes you think I don't?"

 Tigress sits down on the grass crosslegged. "Can you name just ONE thing that should make me think you do?" 

"The reason why I distance myself from you is because I'm worried that once I get close to someone again, that person will eventually hurt me. Or turn their back on me...Again. Just like how Tai Lung did." Shi Fu said sadly.

He placed his hand on Tigress' shoulder. "If this bothered you, you should have said something." Tigress kept quiet with her gaze on the water before them. Shi Fu could tell that she had been scarred for a very long time from lack of attention and care. That's when he had an idea. "How about you and I have dinner tonight?" Tigress looked at him. "Father and daughter time. What do you say?" To his delight, Tigress smiled slightly and nodded.

After Master Shi Fu had reached out to Tigress like a father, her heart felt happy but burdened. How was she supposed relieve her curiosity while still not breaking her adopted father's heart. Especially now that he is trying to make up for lost time with her. 

Then, she thought again. Shi Fu was only afraid of her turning her back on him. This, she would never do. No matter how many times her master had scolded her, how loud, how heartless he was to her, she would never turn her back on him. 

That's when she made up her mind. She was going to find her birthplace. Never mind telling anyone else. They would just try to stop her. She made a plan to find a map of China and search for the Tiger Kingdom's land when the timing was just right.