Kung Fu Panda Story (ORIGINAL)

The Siblings That Used To Be

Tigress' eyes started to open and she squinted as sudden light came into view. She felt like she was moving and realized that something or someone was carrying her on their back. Tigress flinched when she realized that Po was piggybacking her. 

Her arms were around the back of his neck and she weakly asked, "What's going on?" Everyone slowed down when they heard her. 

"Tigress?" Po asked from the front. Her breath was ragged with exhaustion and shallow pain. 

"Are you OK, Tigress?" Monkey asked, coming into her view. 

She sighed and she said irritatedly, "I don't think I'm OK being carried around like a helpless child." 

"Well, you will have to bare with it for now." Master Shifu said, turning around to face her. "You are clearly weak and will need all the rest you can get." Tigress stubbornly tried to pry free from Po's grasp, but he held her firmly on his back. She sighed frustratingly, but gave in.

"Jeez, what's with you and passing-out nowadays?" Mantis asked from the top of Po's shoulder. Tigress just rolled her eyes, still feeling tired. 

Crane explained to her, "When we woke up this morning, we wondered where you got to. Luckily, the sand held your footsteps. What were you doing back at the cave?" Tigress was about to answer, when she fell asleep on Po's back again. 

She silently snuggled comfortably into his fur and sighed softly. Po felt heat creep up onto his face. Their master, who sensed what was happening from upfront, smirked. 'Fate has finally decided...' He thought to himself.

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The village where the masters had slept in a few days before, came into view. Everyone still refused to put Tigress down until they rented a room in the inn. When they did, Po gently placed Tigress down on one of the beds. Surprisingly, she was asleep once again. Her breaths were peaceful and steady. "Oh, poor thing." Viper said, "She's exhausted." She gently pulled a blanket over Tigress before hopping off the bed. 

"Sometimes I used to doubt if Tigress even slept at all." Monkey joked quietly.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Mantis asked Shifu. "Anything." He replied. "You can explore the town if you want. Just make sure to check on Tigress every few hours. I will be meditating just outside the village if any of you need to find me." Everyone nodded and bowed to their master before leaving.

Master Shifu saw everyone out the door and was about to leave to meditate when he saw something shining. He glanced back at Tigress and saw a chain slip out of her shirt. He recognized the locket she wore. Shifu remembered Tigress had gotten the locket from Oogway when she was much younger. Tigress had kept it from then on, and she almost immediately had a picture kept in it.

Curiosity got the better of Shifu as he went to his adoptive daughter's locket to see if she held any other pictures. Tigress was in a deep slumber and wouldn't wake up anytime soon. When he opened the locket, he immediately noticed she'd gotten a picture of Po. 

He smiled and was about to close it again when another thin metal page opened. Curious once again, Master Shi Fu opened the small flap all the way, making sure to be gentle with it. There, he saw a faded picture of Master Oogway, seven years before he passed on. Though, when her looked at the other side of the metal page, his ears drooped.

It was a very faded photo of...Tai Lung. Shifu sighed softly and guiltily as memories came flowing in. He remembered the way Tigress got excited when Shifu told her she had an adoptive older brother. Though he wanted to add that Tai Lung was a bad influence and tried to forcefully take the Dragon Scroll, he hesitated. What good would it do to tell a young five year old about all the horrible things her half-brother had done.

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{Tigress used to ask why Tai Lung was in jail. Shifu never gave her a straight answer, but she still begged to visit him once in a while. To Master Shifu's surprise, Tai Lung was a kind brother to Tigress, even though his paws were chained up, he would talk to her kindly and gently. He never growled at her or tried to make her go away.

 Tigress used to sit in front of him intrigued as he told her stories. They used to call each other 'Brother' and 'Sis'. Tai Lung was more than thrilled to let Tigress take his photo, without the chains of course. She told him that his photo would be the first one to be in her locket. They were both happy. Tigress was closer to Tai Lung than to anyone she had every known.

Oh, how Master Shifu regretted the day he told Tigress what he did to go the jail. She was thirteen then, and the half-siblings have become very close. He took his chance when Tigress was happily eating her lunch in the kitchen. 

When Shifu told her the truth, Tigress wouldn't believe it at first. It took a while to sink in, but when it did, she started sobbing and ran to her room. Master Shifu was shocked by this. Even as a young child, Tigress had never shown tears before. He waited a few minutes before entering his student's room. She was sitting on her bed, holding her locket in her paws. "Tigress?" Master Shifu called to her to get her attention. She looked up with sadness in her eyes, as well as hate and anger. 

"Don't take me to that cursed prison again." She growled. She wrapped her paw around her locket so hard that her paw started shaking. "Tell 'Tai Lung' that I am no sister of his."

Shifu stiffly left the room in shock and anxiety. What had he done? Oogway walked up to Shifu who was frozen to the spot. "Shifu? You told her didn't you?" Master Oogway asked. 

Shifu nodded guiltily. "I made a the worst mistake of my life, Master! Tai Lung was the only one that could make Tigress smile. Now, I just ruined everything for her...again!" 

Oogway smiled kindly at his student. "The only reason you have mistakes, is because you learn from them. Even if you don't, mistakes are mistakes. They pass on. Sometimes, the only way for a new story to begin, is for an old one to end..."

"Master!" Shifu said. "There is no new story! I just ended one without having one spare! Tigress hates Tai Lung now! How is that a story?!...I really messed it up this time..."

 "This time, last time, next time. You are too worried on the now to focus what is to come next." Oogway told him wisely. "The only way a warrior fights is in front of him. Not behind. So be a warrior, Shifu. Even if what is to come isn't the most pleasant of things, there will always be something worth it at the end..." With that Oogway disappeared out of the barracks. Master Shifu sighed and braced himself.}

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Shifu sighed and closed his adoptive daughter's locket. After he told Tigress the truth, she no longer smiled that often. She no longer laughed and made low jokes just to annoy him. She was just... like this. 

That is, before Po arrived. The panda's love for food and a habit of making bad jokes seemed to have an effect on her. Yes, Monkey and Mantis would make funny jokes as well from time to time, but Po seemed more open and understanding. This is why the master didn't mind his student having a certain attraction to him.

It's been years, about nine, since that incident happened, but Tigress either couldn't be bothered to take out Tai Lung's photo, or she still secretly wanted to call him her brother. Master Shifu finally exited the room to go and meditate.