Insecurities

Darting Through the Night

"DEAD SHOT!" Shouted Zheng-Hau at the panda, "THE Dead Shot? Master of long-range and short-range weaponry and hand-to-hand fighter in all of China?! Zeng's THAT Dead Shot!" The Jackrabbit glared at the panda. "My gosh!" He walked in a small circle before coming back to Po's left side. "Do you realize the kind of legend that was right under my nose! I could have learned from him and never had to deal with Zhao!"

"I know, but Zeng told me to keep it a secret. It would put his family in danger," Po replied.

"I don't understand," Tigress said, her eyes sadly set on the table in front of her, "All those years were just... lies?"

"They weren't," Po argued, "Zeng knew it would cause problems if you knew."

"Then how did you know?" Tai-Lung asked with arms crossed and raised an eyebrow.

The panda nervously scratched the side of his cheek, "I... I accidentally found out."

"Well, I'm not surprised," Tai chuckled a bit. He looked at his foster sister's sulking posture. Her eyes still downcast and her ears drooping. The very air around her felt heavy and depressing. While Zheng continued on his rage, Tai knelt down to Tigress's side. "What's wrong?"

"How much of my friends' life do I actually know?" Tigress asked, clenching her fists. Tai sighed, stood back up, and walked over to Zheng-Hau, placing his arm in front of the jackrabbit.

"This is not helping us get Zhao out of China," Tai-Lung reminded everyone in the room. "We need to start moving and fighting Zhao."

Po nodded. Zheng-Hau rolled his eyes, turning away. Po stood up, stretching forth his hand and resting it on the jackrabbit's shoulder, gently smiling at him. Zheng-Hau sighed and uncrossed his arms. "Zeng needs our help. That's what matters," He replied, darting out the room with Yun. The others left Tigress and Po alone. Tigress still gazed into the table.

"Tigress?" Po asked.

"I think I should-" Po placed a hand on her shoulder as he sat down with her.

"Tigress, don't get hung up about this. There are a lot of things I don't know about you. But think of it like this: if Zeng told us, everyone would be in danger," Po said. He gently placed his hand on hers. "I don't know everything about Zeng, myself, you, or about what will happen. But I do know we'll be fine." Po paused a moment and smiled. "I guess that's why tomorrow is always a good thing. We always get to learn something new about ourselves and each other."

Tigress returned a small smile before getting up. She sucked in a breath and sighed heavily, "Let's go help Zeng." Po nodded as the two rushed out the door.

The cool of the night pressed them onward. Po and the others darted through the nighttime forest, trying to beat the Mongolians to the northern mountains. "Come on! We have to get there quick!" Po shouted at them. He was running as fast as he could, but he still had "Panda Asthma." "Wait up!" Tigress jumped gracefully over a large tree root while Tai-Lung ducked underneath it. The moon shone their way through its dim light. They finally stopped running to rest for the night. After setting up their camps and building a campfire, Crane, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, and Yun went to bed while Tai, Tigress, Po, and Zheng-Hau stayed around the fire. "Pass the water please," Po asked Tigress. Tai's watchful eye gazed at Tigress then the panda.

"So," The snow leopard began, "how do Zeng and Zhao know each other?"

"I don't know, but whenever Shifu mentioned Zhao, Zeng would listen in," Po said, looking intently into the fire.

"How do you know?" Tigress asked.

"You can tell by how he looks. His nervous Zeng suddenly changes to a serious Zeng," Po sighed, relaxing back onto the ground. "He is going to have to explain how he knew the Mongolians were coming before anyone of us knew."