56 days and counting......

A long five days passed by as the masters continued to train the pandas. Tigress and Viper were able to teach the ribbon dancers how to implement their dancing skills into kung fu as well as wield the nunchucks correctly and efficiently. (With Tigress and Mei-Mei having some difficulty getting along with each other). By the end of the week, most of the pandas had the ability to defend themselves for a semi-long period of time. Obviously they couldn't fight nearly as well as the masters, but they could still hold their ground well.

Which was nice considering the fact that Kai and his master minions hadn't shown up at all.

"When you said that Po was in danger and this Kai was coming for everyone," Li admitted, as everyone sat around the table at Mei-Mei's house. "I was kind of expecting him to show up within a matter of two or three days. Not a whole week."

"Considering the circumstances though," Po told him. "It's not a lot of time. I learned kung fu in four days and even then, I could barely defeat the baddie coming to destroy everyone."

Everyone was sitting at the kitchen table finishing up some cake that Mei-Mei and Po had prepared while discussing how to deal with Kai. It had been a long day of extensive training and Li had convinced everyone to quit early to help everyone relax. Tigress had been  reluctant to do so with the impending danger looming about, but seeing that she was somewhat stressed herself, Po persuaded her to let everyone have some time to themselves. At the moment, she was currently missing from the room as she was outside meditating. Mei-Mei thought this was somewhat silly since socializing seemed to be a better option, but Po explained that Tigress did things differently than most people.

"I'm still worried about this Kai guy," Li said, still on the subject of Kai's incoming attack. "I don't want a repeat of the last invasion."

"Maybe you should have someone on watch," Viper suggested. "If you have a lookout around the village, we can spot Kai coming before he gets much of a chance to attack."

"That'd be perfect! I'll do that on the way back to the house."

"I'll come too!" Bao exclaimed happily, hopping out of his seat.

"Bao," Mei-Mei told the young panda. "You can't go anywhere; it's bedtime."

"Aw!" Bao whined. "But I want to help look out for Kai!"

"Another time. You need to get some sleep."

"She does have a point," Po informed the cub. "You can't fight Kai if you're sleepy."

Bao sighed. "Okay," he said dejectedly. Looking at Po, he smiled and added, "Can you put me to bed, baba?"

"Um...sure," Po said, getting up from the table.

"Once you've finished, we can head out," Li told him, watching the two head up the stairs.

"I should go tell Tigress we're getting ready to go," Viper piped up.

She went to get out of her seat, but Mei-Mei quickly said, "No, no, it's okay. I can get her!"

"Are you sure?" Mr. Ping questioned suspiciously. "I may be no expert here, but you and Tigress in the same area is like putting oil on a fire."

"We're okay," Mei-Mei assured him cheerily. "She's probably just grumpy because she envies my ribbon dancing skills."

"Tigress doesn't like ribbon dancing," Viper pointed out.

"All girls say that when they can't dance."

The panda flitted out of the room, leaving Viper to roll her eyes in annoyance. "Is Mei-Mei usually like this?" she asked Li. "Because if not, I think I can guess what the problem is."

"Actually, she's not," Li admitted worriedly. "She doesn't usually dismiss things so casually."  He eyed Viper. "Why?" he asked. "What's the problem?"

Monkey snickered. "Should we tell him?" he asked Viper.

"Let me do the talking," Viper warned.   She turned to Li and explained, "From what I've seen, Mei-Mei seems to be under the impression that Tigress is trying to break her and Po's engagement."

Li smiled in relief. "Oh, is that all?" he asked. "Well then, we'll just have to quickly talk to her about that. I'm sure it's all a misunderstanding. I mean, who would want to try and purposely break an arrangement between two happy people in love?"

"Kai?" Mr. Ping suggested.

"I said on purpose."

"I know! And I suggested Kai! He's trying to harm Po on purpose which breaks off all happy connections to him period!"

While the conversation continued on inside, Mei-Mei was busy wandering around out back looking for the tiger master. She was quick to find her in a nearby clearing near the stream in a meditation position.

"You sure enjoy your alone time," the ribbon dancer mocked with a smirk. "Remind me why you want my husband so bad?"

"I'm not in the mood, Mei-Mei," Tigress told her. "Go away, please."

"Afraid not. Li wanted me to tell you that they'll be leaving soon."

"Fine. Then I'll wait outside the front door."

Tigress stood up and proceeded to walk over to the house, passing Mei-Mei without so much as a glance.

"You're not going to thank me?" Mei-Mei asked, giving her a look.

Tigress spun around with burning eyes. "Thank you?!" she snapped. "THANK YOU?! After the way you've been approaching me for the past five days?! Are you insane?!"

"I followed your orders," Mei-Mei pointed out. "I trained exactly as you asked. And I even made you dinner several times when you've popped over with my Fengy."

"Stop calling him Fengy!" Tigress yelled. "His name is Po! Po Ping! And may I add that while you have followed simple orders during training, that didn't stop you from calling me names, insulting me behind my back, purposely trying to injure me, and consistently annoying me by making out with Po while I'm in the room!"

"You're just jealous that Po loves me and not you. There's no need to be so hostile about it."

"I'm being hostile because you're antagonizing me for no reason. It has nothing to do with Po!"

Mei-Mei whipped out a nunchuck she had saved from her lesson earlier that morning and whipped it at Tigress only for the master to catch it and yank Mei-Mei right up to her face. "Are you done?" she asked coldly.

"Not with a cold-blooded loner roaming around freely," Mei-Mei hissed venomously.

Tigress snarled at her and yanked her backwards where the panda skidded across the ground. She regained some footing and came charging back at the master, still holding the nunchuck tightly in her paws. Tigress blocked the ribbon dancer's attacks and tiger struck her back towards the river. Mei-Mei whipped the nunchuck around and came darting back for another round, getting better ground after having watched some more of Tigress' fighting.

"Don't you have a master and a Sacred Temple to get back to?" the panda asked flatly, dodging a clawed strike.

"At the moment, I'm helping your village fend of Kai!" Tigress snapped. "You should be fortunate that I care so much or I wouldn't."

"You? Care?" Mei-Mei laughed, swinging the nunchuck threateningly. "Says she who's always beating me up during our training sessions!"

"Training is hard," came the stern reply as more flying fists and kicks ensued. "I learned kung fu the exact same way, along with my teammates and especially Po! This is how we learned kung fu! Don't look at me if you don't like it; that's how it's done!"

"You only beat me to a pulp!"

"Master Shifu did the exact same thing to Po and look at where he is now: more advanced in kung fu than even I am. I wouldn't say nothing came out of it."

"Oh please!" Mei-Mei scoffed, lashing her weapon at Tigress' head an just missing her. "You're just making excuses because you know I'm right!"

"Since when have you been right on anything?" Tigress asked sharply. "From what I've seen so far, you hardly know anything except what you've been told or whatever you insinuate!"

"You're pathetic!" Mei-Mei yelled, trying to kick her in the leg. "First you come in here hugging my husband and practically begging him to marry you, then you overstep Li's authority to post-pone our wedding until after Kai's defeat, which should have been his or Po's job, and then you have the audacity to try and kill me during training!"

"Po is your fiance, not you husband!" Tigress snapped angrily.

"And you still try to disrespect me!" the ribbon dancer exclaimed, dodging a sharp blow to her face. "I'm probably so much older than you and here you are trying to harm me! Didn't your parents ever teach you- oh, wait...that's right. You don't have parents, do you?"

"As has been established," Tigress reminded her, kicking her into a nearby tree. "And I'm older than you. You're 33; I'm 37."

"So you've never had the love of a parent for nearly forty years then?!" Mei-Mei retorted, getting up. "I feel so sorry for you. It must be hard knowing that your parents hated you so much they left you outside in a downpour for you to get sick."

"Who told you they left me at the orphanage during a storm?!" Tigress demanded. "I never told anyone that!"

"Po apparently knows that," the panda told her, coming back with another round of nunchuck lashings. "He told me that sometime after we met and got romantically involved."

"My parents couldn't take care of me," the master told her, catching the nunchuck and yanking her forward to get kicked in the stomach. "That's why they left me there!"

"How do you know that? Do you remember them rocking you to sleep? Tucking you into bed? Smiling at you when they held you? Do you really think anyone would ever love someone like you?!"

A wave of angry fury washed over the master and she charged at Mei-Mei with every intent of scratching her face beyond recognition. However, Mei-Mei was finally able to catch Tigress' incoming attack where she promptly whipped her across the face with the nunchuck, knocking Tigress across the ground and leaving a nasty wound across her cheek.

"Tigress?!" came the concerned voice of Po.

Mei-Mei glanced up at the Dragon Warrior and waved happily over to him as he ran over. "Did you see that, Fengy?!" she exclaimed. "I finally beat her in a fight!"

"That's great, Mei-Mei," Po told her. "Just be a little more careful next time."

Seeing Tigress still laying on the ground in pain, the Dragon Warrior quickly ran over to her to see if she was okay. "Tigress?" he asked gently.

The master slapped his paw away from her and got up, snapping, "Just leave me alone!"

And with that, she took off running away from the house.

"Do you think I should have let her win?" Mei-Mei asked, feigning sad ignorance.

"Of course not," Po assured her. "But I kind of saw that you hurt her with the nunchuck and you're not supposed to do that unless you're in a real fight."

"Well, I'm still learning," the ribbon dancer told him. She smiled and added, "So, are you leaving now?"

"Yeah, we're going to head out and find some night watch pandas. Then we're heading back to get some sleep."

"Sounds like a plan, Fengy. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Mei-Mei grabbed Po's wrist and pulled him close to her where she gave him a passionate kiss. She then walked back to the house with a flirty wave of her hand, leaving Po standing stiffly with a small wave of heat rising to his cheeks.

Tigress ran back to Li's house, the scar from the nunchuck stinging in the wind. She knew that Mei-Mei's words shouldn't have bothered her since she didn't even know anything about the master, but Tigress couldn't help but feel completely overwhelmed by such a possibility. It was true that she didn't know why her parents left her there, but what made it worse was that the memory of them leaving her at the orphanage was the only one she had of them. Everything else prior to that was just a a hazy blank. She had never considered the idea that her parents flat out didn't want her, but now that the idea was in her head, she couldn't get it out.

They wouldn't have just abandoned me because they didn't want me...right? she thought to herself as she walked up the bridge and into the house. They just couldn't take care of me. Isn't that why most parents give up their kids?

The master made her way through the darkness and into the room that she was currently staying in. She sat on the bed and tried to meditate and get the unsettling thoughts out of her head, but Mei-Mei's words couldn't be shaken free. The truth was that she didn't remember her parents at all. She knew they both left her in the middle of an earth-shattering rain storm and that was all. She didn't remember their faces. She didn't know their names. She didn't even remember the brief life she had with them before being left on her own. Normally this wouldn't bother the master, but for some reason it did. She couldn't really explain it; it just bothered her to know (and reluctantly accept Mei-Mei's point) that she would never know the reason why her parents left her at the orphanage.

After struggling to meditate for a few minutes, Tigress finally gave up and tucked herself into bed with the hopes of sleeping the thoughts away instead.

The night was cold and dark and heavy rain poured down from the sky. Deep puddles lined the road and lightning streaked across the sky, blinding anyone who was out in the weather. Wind whipped the rain in all directions, blinding Tigress even more who was huddling near a tree to stay dry. She didn't know where she was or how she got there, but she knew it would be extremely dangerous to go anywhere in such a storm.

How did I even get out here? she thought to herself. Am I even close to a shelter? She tried to squint through the storm to see if anyone was there, but she found no one. The master finally decided to try and move, but the wind was lashing around so violently that she could barely move anywhere except for backwards. After a moment, she fell back onto the ground, hearing the violent claps of thunder echo in her ears. She went to stand up only to see two shadowy figures looming in front of her, the familiar cloaks burning in her head.

"You!" she exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing here?!"

"Just checking on things," came the flat answer from the figure on the left. "People used to say we were insane giving you up for money. We thought we'd come and see if we were right."

"How is giving me away for money worth anything?" Tigress snapped.

"It's hard to live comfortably with a child who does nothing but cost you everything," the other figure told her simply. "I rather liked my life before children. And seeing just how low you've fallen, I'm glad we made that decision."

"I haven't fallen anywhere," the master corrected them. "I protect people from danger."

"Really?" the first voice asked in fake surprise. "I thought that was the Dragon Warrior's job. And believe that was the panda...not you."

"I'm a part of the Furious Five. We were there long before Po came!"

"How lovely. Still, not worth our time. I mean, look at you! Defending everything like a child with little to no consideration of others."

"And where on earth did you get those clothes?" the second figure piped up with a hint of disgust.

"Hey! Po got me this shirt!" Tigress yelled. "Leave him out of this! I like it!"

The first figure let out a groan and put a paw to his forehead. "Again, I rest my case," he grumbled. "Well, Tigress, have fun with your life...whatever is left of it. We'll just be heading back home."

The master snarled at him. "Oh yes," she snapped. "Abandon me again! Just shows what kind of people you are!!!"

Her parents didn't answer her though and they continued to walk swiftly away into the storm as violent flashbacks of her horrible days in the orphanage proceeded to flood her mind: people telling her she was stupid, kids running away screaming, being raised alone in a cold and dark room, being name called and humiliated, being dragged and bound for scaring kids, and even being forgotten about sometimes while everyone else got plenty of attention. Tigress curled up in a tight ball and held her head tightly as if to try and force all the memories out. However, they kept on coming faster and longer and more horrible than the last until she finally heard a familiar, "TIGRESS!!!!!!"

Startled, Tigress snapped her head up, the entire storm fading into an empty blackness.......

Tigress woke up with a gasp, seeing Po sitting on her bed with a worried look on his face.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked.

Tigress swallowed a terrified sob building up in her chest and said carefully, "Yes, I'm fine. Why? What's wrong?"

"Dad and I got up for a midnight snack and I heard you tossing and turning, so I decided to check on you."

"You came in because you heard me tossing and turning?" Tigress asked curiously.

"Well, I know that normally means you're having a bad dream so I thought I'd wake you up before it got really bad."

The master blinked, unsure of how Po had picked up on that so fast. "Oh," was all she said.

Po gave her another look of concern and asked, "What kind of bad dream was it?"

Tigress sighed, knowing that there was no way around the question. "It was nothing," she told him. "Just...bad memories."

"Like what?"

Tigress shrugged and leaned back against the wall. Po scootched next to her and gave her a firm hug for comfort. Neither of them spoke for a while until finally, Tigress shakily said, "Po...do you think my parents left me because...they didn't want me?"

The Dragon Warrior gave her a look of surprise. "What gave you that idea?"

"Mei-Mei gave me that idea," Tigress corrected. "We had a...discussion...on the matter earlier."

"Mei-Mei told you your parents probably didn't like you?!" Po exclaimed in surprise. His eyes narrowed in anger, briefly remember a similar moment when he had confronted Lord Shen. "Well she didn't have any right to tell you that. No one knows why they gave you up."

"That's what bothers me, Po. You remember your mom saving your life. I can't even remember what my parents looked like!"

"You were also three weeks old, remember? I was almost 1. That's a huge age difference! Wait, you did say three weeks right?"

"That's what I was told," Tigress responded, resting a head on Po's shoulder.

Po gave her a gentle squeeze and told her, "This probably won't help you much, but I'm gonna' tell you something similar to what dad told me once: you may not remember your parents or why they gave you away, but look at where you are now. You have kung fu, friends, someone who raised you...sort of...and people who look up to you. I'm sure they only gave you away to give you your best chance, but even if it was for selfish reasons, I'll bet that if they saw you now, they'd regret doing it. And if it was for your best chance, they'd be proud of you!"

Tigress took a shaky breath, still trying to hold back tears. "You think so?" she asked.

"I can almost guarantee it! Don't listen to Mei-Mei. I don't know why she told you that, but she obviously doesn't know how to mind her own business. Or other people's personal space."

Tigress let out a small laugh. "Is she getting on your nerves?" she asked.

Po sighed. "She's nice," he admitted. "But she's just not my type. I just...I don't know how to tell her or my dad that. You know, Li. I mean, he's dead set on me marrying her and I'm a little afraid to disappoint him since he's been trying to do nothing but get to know me."

"I can imagine that's hard," the master told him gently. "But it'd probably be even harder being married to someone you don't love."

"Yeah, especially to someone who's more obsessive than dad on the whole kids business. I mean, she's already planned out when we'd have our kids, what we'll name them and...I think you get the idea."

"Yeah, I get it."

The door suddenly swung open and Tigress and Po broke out of their hug and turned to see Li standing in the door wheezing. "Son!" he exclaimed through varied pants. "Kai's been spotted!"

"He has?!" Po asked in shock. "That was fast!"

"Where?" Tigress asked.

"By the mountain tunnels just north of here." Li eyed the two and added, "Is everything okay in here?"

"Yeah, Tigress was just having a bad night sleep," Po explained quickly.

"Oh. Alright."

"We should wake up the others and head out," Tigress told the pandas, quickly getting up and exiting the room, Po following close behind. Li watched them wake up their friends and leave the house, nervously heading downstairs and awaiting any further trouble on the way. A few minutes later, Mr. Ping came waddling sleepily down the stairs and into the kitchen where Li was found snacking on some dumplings.

"What's all the commotion?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Kai's been spotted," Li said nervously. "Po went to go check it out."

"Oh," Mr. Ping said, going over to the stove to make some tea. "Well, at least we're somewhat prepared. Do you remember how to do the Chow-Wa-Punch-Kick I showed you?"

"Down to the last second," Li promised. He looked out towards the door, his brow furrowing in thought. "Tell me something," he said off-topic. "This Tigress girl and Po...were they ever in a relationship?"

"No," Mr. Ping admitted. "But everyone's been betting on it for over a year at this point."

"Betting on it?" Li asked in surprise. "I mean, I just kind of noticed that they do seem a little close, but bets?"

"You would too if you knew that- wait a minute! You're just noticing this?!"

"I knew Po wasn't in a relationship and then there was the focus on him and Mei-Mei getting to know each other....No, I didn't notice, I'm afraid."

"Well then, welcome aboard."

Li let out a short laugh. "This definitely complicates things," he noted to himself.

Okay, so I need some help here: I plan on revealing later why Tigress' parents left her, but I need a good way to do it. I was thinking either she meets someone from her past or Po finds a device that shows her her earliest memories. Yes? No? Or do you guys have any other ideas? I'm kind of stuck.