Kung Fu Panda Story (ORIGINAL)

Awake At Last

"Tigress... Tigress wake up..."

The young tiger moaned quietly, slowly squinting her eyes opening as they adjusted to the sudden brightness. According to how bright the lighting was, it would probably have been late morning by then. Tigress was lying slightly on her side, making her face a familiar paper-thin wall that she recognized after a moment. The very same room-dividers that the Jade Palace barracks held. Though, how was she all the way back at the Jade Palace?

All of a sudden, everything started coming back to her. That... Tiger Power move, her birth place, that shadow that... that took over her, her very own grandfather. Also that she... lost control. She lost control of everything.

The flashbacks in her mind came to an abrupt stop as she heard a recognizable, yet distinct, "Tigress?"

Her eyes quickly averted from the floor to her adopted father, who was standing a foot or so away from the bed she was lying on. "M-Master..." Tigress managed to croak out, but it was obvious that she was still rather weak and fatigued. Despite that though, she made an effort to sit up, using one of her arms as support.

She continued, "Master, please forgive me. I-"

"-No, Tigress." Master Shifu stopped her firmly. "You are not responsible for what happened."

"But, Master. If I'd never gone to Tiger's Cove then-" The tiger tried to protest.

"-Then we all would not have been more united than we are now... We may have had our struggles with that past.. issue, but that does not make us care about you any less." Shifu interrupted her again.

Tigress rested her arms on her knees and looked like she was trying to process something.

Master Shifu rolled his eyes, but with a slight smile. "Yes, Tigress. We all do care about you. Despite your... hardcore status most of the time- Their words not mine!"

Tigress chuckled lightly, but then sniffed all of a sudden almost inaudibly, trying to hide her frailness at that moment. Though, her master's sensitive ears picked up on the sound.

The tiger gave a small, half-hearted smile at her master, almost apologetic. "I'm sorry, Master." She said quietly as she swiftly brushed hand across her eyes. She laughed silently as she continued, hoping that it would distract her master as well as herself from the vulnerability of current her state, "I... I don't know why I'm being.. so weak. You should.. probably go and do your own thing now. I'm sure you want to get started on your meditating before it gets too late."

Now, a full tear had made it out of the master's eyes, making her extraordinary annoyed. It only made it halfway down her cheek before she swiped it off her face, nearly scratching herself with her own claws during the process.

Shifu, however, did not make a move towards the door, but instead stayed by his daughter's side. "Tigress... Firstly, shedding tears does not make you weak. Sometimes, the strongest warriors are the ones that cry the most."

He watched as Tigress just looked at him as if he might have hit his head a little too hard on something, but he ignored it, knowing that she trusted and believed him. 

Shifu paused before continuing, "Secondly..." He placed a comforting and reassuring hand on her shoulder. "If I had a choice between meditating for an entire eternity, and staying beside my daughter to take care of her for the next one thousand years, which do you think I would choose?"

The young warrior just stared at him, unsure of what to say. Shifu smiled at her. "The latter of course. You mean more to me than all the Kung fu knowledge there is in the world. That, and I also feel bad for not doing the best I could for you in the past."