One Shot.

Disclaimer: Kung Fu Panda is © 2008 DreamWorks Animation SKG

I wanted to make a bit of a break away from my other story The Thriller and focus on the relationship Tigress and Master Shifu share. It is, quite understandably, a very complex subject to broach here, her being the second student to be taken under Shifu's wings as more than just his student (the first obviously being Tai Lung) — and he being the cold, rather distant yet still the only father figure in her life. That's where the genesis for this little one-shot came from.

This takes flight from the very end of Chapter 7 of Thriller and acts as a bridge into Chapter 8. The only reason why I'm doing this as a separate piece is because I wanted to explore the very vague father/daughter dynamic of their relationship…please don't expect too much out of this, as it is quite short. And it'll keep my less patient readers happy while I slam out the next chappy XD

Enjoy!

A Father's Intuition

This was a bad idea. It was too soon to be doing this, I know, but I feel like I have no choice. I have to speak to him.

It was much later that night, at least a few hours had passed after the sun had gone down; all of the lanterns were out which made the hallway almost unbearably dark. My keen feline eyes were used to this kind of darkness, though, as they always had been — but it didn't make my trip down this corridor any easier.

How many years had it been? How many years since I set my eyes on his chamber door? Too long. I shook my head.

Po was gone, that much I knew. He was well on his way to Cháng'ān by now, the capital city, to meet the Emperor…heaven knows that if fate had worked itself out any differently, that very well could have been me on my way to meet the Emperor, to receive his congratulations, but I know better now; if anything has changed for me in these past ten months, it's that I've become much wiser, more humbled. And I also understand that Po deserves to be widely recognized for his heroism — he deserves to be honored for what he did, much more than any of us, including me. Still, it would have been nice to be with him now…it's only been a few hours and I miss him already.

No, you're not escaping. I just need to be alone for a little while. I need to remember who I used to be. I need to re-evaluate who I am as a person. And I don't think I'll be able to do that with you here.

I turned the last corner, and before I knew it, Master's door was right in front of me.

With my right paw I reached out and knocked, very softly, almost timidly. Gods, my paws were already starting to sweat. I knocked again, only a little bit more loudly this time, with just a bit more force behind it. You need this. I firmly told myself. He needs to know.

My ears twitched to the sound of latches coming undone from the other side of the door. The door opened slowly, and through the dim light of a single candle in his hand his eyes darted up to my face.

He watched me cautiously, questioningly. "Tigress."

There was no hint of surprise in his tone, almost as if he was expecting to see me, although it was a complete contradiction of his facial expression.

I bowed respectfully, already feeling the sting of guilt of disturbing my Master at such a late hour. "Good evening, Master. I know it's late, but, may I come in? I've been meaning to speak with you."

He was slow to answer. "…Yes, of course. Please," he beckoned me inside, and I heard the door close softly behind me.

My relationship with my Master is a complicated one. The Five have heard a couple of my stories, and Po…well, he knows more than any of them. To be honest, I'm fairly sure that I've scared them all and forced them to wonder about my childhood. For the longest time I was Master's only student — and that doesn't even count the time he spent visiting me while I was still in Bao Gu. We were closer before he finally adopted me; it was only in the time afterward when we started to drift apart. But as strange as that sounds, I really don't think my relationship with him is that unusual.

After hearing all of the stories Po told me about growing up with his father, even though he respected him to no end, he never considered himself to be close to Mr. Ping. At least, their ideas of what he wanted to be were completely different. A noodle chef or a kung fu warrior. Unless it was about the family business, Mr. Ping couldn't stand to hear about his dreams. My situation is not much different than his. I suppose that was why I trusted Po with my secrets more than anyone else. He understood me.

But they were still close in other ways. They still loved each other, despite their differences. Po was still his son; and Ping was still his father. That never changed. Even now, it still hasn't changed.

Master, on the other hand, was never very close with any of us. As far as I can tell, the only few people he was ever close to were Tai Lung, Master Oogway…and now Po, to a lesser degree. As a result, over the years, he treated me like the others — like a student. Tai Lung had always gotten his unconditional love and respect, and I subsequently got put in my foster brother's shadow, more or less. But that story's already been told. What it all boils down to is that my Master — my father — never really knew how to treat me as a daughter. He didn't know how to act around me or what to expect from me, and so we never became close. At all.

He stood a few feet away from me as I sat down at the foot of his large bed, staring at my feet. I could feel his gaze on me as he slowly came closer. "Tigress?" He asked. "Is something wrong?"

Oh. Yes, I suppose I could have told him why I was invading his privacy. "I'm sorry Master, it's just that…I've had a lot on my mind, and I was hoping that we could…talk."

Master took a seat next to me. "Of course. I'm listening."

I leaned back, looking down at his aged face. "It's about last night." He blinked, but said nothing. I could already tell this wasn't going to be an easy subject to bring up, but I pushed forward, "I didn't really get a chance to talk to Po about it before he left, and…well," I paused, wondering how to phrase it. "What did he tell you about us?"

This was more straight-forward than I would have liked.

He looked down. "He told me enough. Not about last night, but, he affirmed a few things for me. I came to my own conclusions about what you two have done in my absence."

Oh, dear gods. "Like what?"

He sighed; I silently cringed. "I imagine that you two have already…kissed." I nodded. "And that you may or may not have done — ah, other things."

Other things? I wondered. Other things, meaning — Sex. Oh…right. I frowned slightly, and felt heat rush to my face. Well, this was embarrassing.

"Are you ashamed of me?" I asked.

Of course he's ashamed of you. My conscience chastised me. But honestly, why wouldn't he be? I had sacrificed my virtue. No father would be proud of a daughter who would do something so foolish.

But that's when he unexpectedly smiled at me, and it was wonderful. He's never smiled like this before. Not for the longest time. "No, Tigress. I'm proud of you. You had the guts to follow your heart, even though you knew I never would have allowed it. Po may not be the most ideal person in my mind for you, but I have not seen you this happy since you were just a little cub."

I smiled. I desperately needed to hear this — I needed him to remember who I was then and who I am now.

"He's such a good man, Master. And he does make me happy, but, is that enough to be with him?"

He put his hand on my lap, looking up at me curiously. "Why couldn't you?"

I shook my head doubtfully. "Because he's the Dragon Warrior, Master. By rank, I'm beneath him. That can't be right…it isn't honorable."

Again he sighed. "And Master Oogway took on a poor villager as an apprentice; I was a peasant working in the rice fields when he extended his invitation to me to live and train under him. I am not the one you should be telling things like that." He gazed up at me. "I know I'm not very good at this, but I will try to help." He paused. "Do you love him, Tigress?"

I bowed my head to try and hide the blush on my face. But he did make a good point. Did I?

"…Yes, Master, I do. At least, I'm pretty sure I do. But, is that what matters?"

"Does he love you, Tigress?"

I nodded, but didn't look at him. I was still ashamed to admit any of this, and also nervous and scared of what he'd have to say. At the moment, I felt like I was that anxious little seven year old tiger cub again, cringing before him after I had done something wrong. It was when I believed resolutely that my Master was always right, regardless of what he did or said. "He says he does. He says he's loved me for a long time…even before we first met. That he'd do anything for me."

"And do you believe him?"

I nodded again. "Yes."

My eyes began to fill up with tears, so I turned my head away. I didn't want him to see my weakness. Not now, not so soon.

"Then what is the problem?" I heard him say. "Tigress, you, more than anyone else on this earth, deserve to be happy. If Po is that one person you need to be happy with for the rest of your life, then I have no right to get in the way and take that away from you. I may not have said this to you out loud, but," The look he gave me was sincere. "I've always wanted you to be happy. Please be happy."

I wanted to cry. My Master wanted me to be happy. For the first time in my life, I didn't feel like I was just his student. After fifteen years, he finally made me feel like I was his own flesh and blood; his daughter. I nodded at him, stood up, and quickly began to make my way towards the door. The only thing that stopped me from opening up that door and leaving his presence was the slight, gentle tug I felt at the tip of my tail. I turned around and looked down, seeing that he had just as quickly followed behind.

With kind parental eyes he looked up at me, giving me that same smile that made me feel wonderful inside. "Tigress, I was wondering if you would like to take a day off from your regular training tomorrow? I have some errands to run, and I would be delighted to spend as much time as I can get with my daughter." He paused. "I think it is about time we got to know each other, don't you?"

I began to feel hot tears stream down my face. "Yes, I would like that very much. Thank you, Master."

"Tigress," he said, "It is perfectly alright with me if you want to drop that formality…I think we're past that now, don't you?"

I bit my lip, trying to keep more tears back, "I suppose we are…Shifu."

"…Or baba," he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Whatever, makes you feel more comfortable."

Baba. Father. He wanted me to call him 'father.'

"Thank you Master." I blurted out, but he just smiled and nodded. I knelt down and did something I never thought I'd ever get the chance to do. I wrapped my arms around him, and he quickly reciprocated, extending his short arms as completely around my body as he could.

"…Thank you." I quietly repeated into his ear.

"I'm so proud of you, wo meilì nu." He whispered back.

We spent the rest of that night talking about his life and mine, recovering all of our lost time. When we finally did decide to call it an evening, he kissed my cheek and told me goodnight.

The gong rang the next morning, as it always had, and we left the Palace, spending the entire day together, just as he promised he would. I tried not to think about Po for the next couple of weeks as I finally got the chance to enjoy my Master's — my father's — company, for the first time since I was a little girl.

I am his daughter, ta meilì nu. And I always will be.

Not too much to say, other than footnoting that wo meilì nu (我美麗的女兒) is a Pinyin Mandarin phrase which roughly translates to: "my beautiful daughter" in English. Master Shifu's mention of his past life of "working the rice fields" was yet another shout out to 'Memoirs' (yes, again…shuddup). Love ya, Luna!

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Cheers :)