Chapter 15

On the surface, the Granter was using his power to keep Po and the others from entering the water to save their Master. They didn't have any idea that Tigress was also in the water, and had the scenario playing in their heads he had her captive within him or on him, like Kai had the Master's in jade green trinkets...

As they all hit the ground in a dizzy spell once again, the atmosphere soon came to a stand still. The Granter looked behind into a specific spot of the water; where he saw a faint glow deep down, merely a speck on the vast body of water. Through it's presence, his eyes looked down plainly... until a smile slowly crawled along a grey muzzle once it faded away.

Meanwhile, the others were face planted into the ground, utterly exhausted. "Okay..." Po wheezed as he took another stand, slowly going into his battle stance. "We are gonna try be... huh?" Po stopped talking. Everyone else looked up tiredly, before their heads spun around to find the Granter was nowhere to be seen. Everything grew quiet once they were all standing.

"What... where did he go?" Monkey itched his head in confusion, and he looked behind them, and then back forward. His fur was still damp and matted, and a little dirty by the muddy paste concealed by the rush of the water he was pushed into by a windy forced made by the enemy. Everyone followed suite in appearance; cold, wet, dirty, and Crane was close to collapsing as his heavy wings proved to make flying more laborious.

"We need to save Tigress and Shifu first before finding him!" Viper claimed, slithering into the calmer water again. The boys mentally slapped themselves for forgetting, and were about to run after her, but there was a ripple forming in the water. "Uh... guys? What's that?"

The ripple soon turned the water into an uneven body, small waves over lapping the other, causing Crane to pull Viper back cautiously. When it looked like the center where the ripple was first made was ready to burst, they started to run, and planned to hide behind a large boulder nearby, until there was a SWISH, SWOSH, and a loud, desperate intake of air. They turned back around, jaws immediately dropping at the site of Tigress, resurfacing after going under the water the second time. She looked around desperately, seeing them on the side, and swimming towards dry land. Shifu was perched on her back, motionless. But she wasn't a teenager anymore... she was back the way she was; normal.

Po immediately rushed into the water, with Monkey not far behind him. The primate pulled the unconscious Shifu off her, and Po hoisted her out of the water, and she practically collapsed in his arms, shivering violently with the cold. "What... the heck happened down there?" Mantis claimed in shock as Po guided Tigress towards them, her feet slightly dragging along the ground. She looked at him, wide eyed, taking deep intakes of air. "Actually let's leave it til later..." He muttered.

"We gotta get Shifu back to the Palace." Monkey grabbed hold of Crane's leg, with Shifu in his other arm, coughing heavily as they took off, leaving the others to walk, wordless, and shocked.

Everything around Shifu was oddly still.

It was dark, a bit chilly, but it was at the kind of chilly where you were starting to warm up. His ears remained flat against his head, and he couldn't move. He looked around, and no one was there.

"Where am I?" He asked himself, trying to scratch his head in question, but he was restricted to move his body parts by an unknown force.

"Be at ease Shifu." A voice spoke softly. The Granter! He stood in front of him abruptly, hands joined together under the long draping sleeves of his cloak. "All is well... just listen."

Shifu jumped at the sound of voices above him.

"She hasn't left his side... has she eaten yet?"

"Yeah I made sure I brought her noodle soup and everything, and that was only an hour ago."

"Keep your voice down, she's sleeping..."

Shifu eyed the Granter suspiciously as the voices faded. "What... happened?"

There was a brief chuckle. "The cloth has been resown."

Shifu's heart skipped a beat. "You mean... she saved me?"

"Yes. She found the truth within your words, and is giving you that chance... all you need to do is wake up." Those eyes highlighted themselves from the depths of his hood, and Shifu saw images of Tigress' resting near his motionless form, sleeping. Her head was sitting on her arm, while the other had its paw on top of his. "If this ever happens again Shifu, I will return. Don't waste anymore of her time; show her how much she means to you, be the man of your word."

Shifu nodded determinedly, a smile sketched across his face. "I promise." His fist connected with his palm, and he bowed. "But I must ask... whose wish did you grant?"

The Granter looked at the image too. "Originally it was Tigress'... then the others were thinking the same, wanting the relationship restored... but when I realized the cause of the distance between you too, I knew it was time for my redemption to truly take place.

The atmosphere started to lighten up, and Shifu took a cautious step towards the Granter. "Your... redemption?" He asked slowly. There was a chuckle echoing around him, and he stared at the Granter as the cloak was pulled down. "What..." His eyes dilated as a smile was captured in the reflection of his eyes. "It can't be..."

The 'Granter' smiled down at Shifu, bowing back to him as he began to float out of Shifu's defined peripheral vision. As the red panda experienced more difficulty moving again, a voice whispered to him, as a bright light forced him to shut his eyes to shield away the pain of its brightness.

"Your welcome... Master."

Stirring slightly, Shifu's eyes slowly opened. Everything was blurry, and he couldn't make out anything, until color highlighted a single body sitting close to him, looking straight at him. The thing that was before him spoke, but the voice was also blurry. Shifu's eyes closed again and rubbed them gently.

"Are you alright?" The voice asked, sounding a lot clearer. It was who owned the voice made him yanked his paws away from his eyes, and look at them.

"Tigress!" She smiled at him, a blanket slung around both her shoulders. "You're... back!"

He saw the pause in her movement, and then a frown formed on her face. "I never left..."

Shifu latched his arms around her shoulders, staring at the wall behind her in a mixture of shock, happiness, and guilt. To add to his surprise, Tigress hugged him back, but it seemed slightly hesitant. When they pulled apart, Tigress began explaining what he already knew; he was thrown into the reflecting pool in the grotto... but her version of events played differently to his. She swam down to rescue him, while the others fought off the bandit who tried to drown him in the first place.

"He escaped before we could arrest him," she stated, sounding rather unhappy with how it resulted in. "But we will find him."

"There's no need." Shifu nearly chuckled at her expression of confusion. "But there's something that needs to be done."

Tigress wrapped the blanket tighter around her. "What would that be?"

Shifu took one of her paws into both of his. "We have a lot to catch up on."

Unknown to the duo, Po, Viper, Crane, Monkey, and Mantis were peering through the make crack in the door, a smile stretching across each of their faces. Things within the Palace were a lot different after that; Tigress laughed more, was more compassionate and caring to how others felt, and when addressing problems, she let some emotion into it. Shifu smiled a lot more, and utmost importantly, he made time to keep up and make things right with Tigress; more than just his former student...

But his Nǚ'ér.

Annnnnnnd we finish.

Hope you enjoyed this story guys!

Sorry if it seems short, but please review!

Until my next update, ciao!