Yin and Yang
Chapter 4

"So there I was with the dragon scroll in my hand when suddenly it hit me," Po vividly told a story for several of the children of Gongmen City, including the bunnies that had once accompanied him on an unforgettable chase through the city on a Rickshaw. The entire city was celebrating underneath the stars, with a festival in honor of the Dragon Warrior. However, most of the kids had flocked to said Dragon Warrior so that he couldn't really escape. "As I saw my own reflection in the scroll, I realized, that...you know, unlike my dad's amazing soup that...there is no secret ingredient. It's just you." There were "oohs" of enlightenment from the kids as they listened, captivated by the large panda. "You see, I suddenly realized that it didn't matter that the scroll hadn't given me limitless power because all I had to do was believe I was the Dragon Warrior like Master Oogway had said."

"Although, training helps," Tigress pointed out with a slight smirk. She had been sitting nearby listening to the entire story. She had a soft spot for children that even she couldn't deny, not that she was vocal about it either. She loved watching their reactions to Po's over the top manner as much as she secretly enjoyed his story telling herself.

"Yes, thank you. I was just getting to that, actually." Po looked at her and nodded his head. He knew she was deliberately playing a game with him, her humor being the strange thing that it was. There was still a part of her that liked to point out his shortcomings. No matter how close they'd become, she was ever the feline with her somewhat condescending personality. But Po couldn't fault her for it. He had quickly come to understand it was her way of teasing. And, he hated to admit it, but she just wouldn't be Tigress without it. There were times he even inexplicably enjoyed it…

"Po?" Tigress' voice broke him away from his wandering thoughts. He looked at her as she eyed him curiously, the kids laughing at him at the same time. "Anything the matter?"

"What! Huh? Uh, no, of course not," Po began fumbling for an explanation, his eyes wide in panic as Tigress continued looking at him strangely and the kids laughed all the louder. "Uh…so…okay, where was I? Oh yeah, no secret ingredient and training helps. You see, Tigress is right," he looked at her cautiously, waiting for her to add an "of course" or something else of the sort, but she remained silent. "I didn't need a secret ingredient to defeat Tai Lung. I only needed to believe in myself and the skills Master Shifu taught me. With those skills, I was able to defeat Tai Lung. And oh you should have seen it. We're talking crazy kung fu skills back and forth," he became excited as he then began to retell the battle, perhaps exaggerating it here and there for effect while Tigress shook her head and smiled knowing full well what was and wasn't true.

At the end of his story, the kids cheered wildly. "You're so awesome, Po," one kid said. "I wish I was like you, Po," came another voice. Tigress looked at Po, unable to hold back a laugh as the kids bombarded him with praise and questions in what seemed like a fit of chaos.

"Okay, okay," Po finally raised his hands for them to settle down and they did. "I appreciate all of the love, guys, but don't forget. You're all awesome too, in your own ways." The children's faces grew excited as he praised them and Tigress watched and listened with an expression that someone might dare to call infatuation. That is if they didn't mind being seriously injured for a good long while after the fact. "You all have the ability to be whatever you want to be. If I can do it, so can you. Maybe you all won't be kung fu masters, but maybe you will. It's up to you to be the best at whatever it is you want to be. You know, so long as what you want to be isn't evil or something," he added playfully. "Because then I might have to kick your butt someday and I don't really want to do that," the kids giggled at his silly comment. "Besides guys, I think you forgot that growing up to be like the Dragon Warrior is cool and all, but growing up to be like Tigress here is way cooler." He pointed at her with his thumb, his comment taking her completely off guard.

"Po, I don't think…" Tigress could see the mischievous, albeit look of genuine admiration, light in his eyes and before she had a chance to finish, many of the impressionable kids were agreeing with him. She felt a light tug on one of her pant legs and she looked down to see a girl bunny.

"Master Tigress," The girl started nervously, "I do want to be like you when I grow up, but my brother says I'm not brave or tough enough."

Tigress' eyes widened in pity as she looked at Po for a second and then back down at the bunny. Sighing slightly to calm herself and then putting on a warm smile, Tigress leaned down on one knee to be closer to the little girl. "Well, with all due respect to your brother, he's wrong. I'm not always so brave and tough," she could feel Po's eyes boring into her, but she ignored it. "Sometimes it takes more courage to let others know you're afraid than to pretend you're not. And just because you don't feel brave and tough right now doesn't mean you won't have what it takes to be a master someday," she was happy to see the bunny's face light up. "You'll find your fighting style someday. Just remember," she paused, glancing sideways at Po, "the hard and soft aren't so very different."

Tigress was taken off guard as the small bunny hugged her, but Tigress gently returned the embrace. However, the touching moment was interrupted by the sound of snivels coming from Po. Tigress and the little girl pulled away and looked up at Po in amusement before Tigress stood to her feet completely. "That was so sweet," Po said before wiping a few tears from his eyes and clearing his throat. "Okay, why don't you all go have fun, kids," he suggested and they all cheered and ran off in different directions. He looked over to see Tigress still staring at him with an amused smirk on her face and one hand on her hip. "What? It was sweet. You telling that little girl that you're not really hardcore. I mean, for a moment, I almost believed it too," his comment was unexpected and Tigress' face fell. He noticed it and shrugged, "What? What did I say?"

"Po," Tigress hesitated. "I know this might be hard for you to believe, but…"

"But?" Po's face betrayed the anticipation he felt waiting for her to finish.

"But…" She froze. She couldn't tell him. Not even after everything they'd been through. She couldn't just say, Well, Po, my whole life has been a lie. "I love children," she answered.

"Oh," it wasn't what Po had been expecting. "I already kind of guessed that. I mean, not that that isn't cool for you to share with me anyway," he quickly corrected when he realized maybe he had offended her. "I mean, kids are great. Little handfuls sometimes, but, yeah. That was super cool that you wanted to help that little girl and…" he continued to ramble.

She felt somewhat guilty for his reaction, but it amused her just the same. "It's fine," Tigress said reassuringly, bringing his rambling to an end. "But no matter what I told that little girl, it doesn't change what I already told you before."

Po wasn't sure what she meant, but before he had a chance to ask, Tigress boldly threw her arms around him. It took him off guard in the same way that it had in the jail and in the way his hug had taken her off guard earlier that morning. "No matter what, remember, the hardcore do understand."

Po wasn't sure how to respond. He had found peace with his father issues and was sure she knew that already since he'd defeated Lord Shen in front of everyone thanks to inner peace. So, what else was there to understand? Instead of asking further, he opted for an entirely different question. "So, is this like going to be a regular thing between us now?" His tone was playful, but curious. "Are we just going to hug each other whenever one of us least expects it?"

"I wouldn't count on it," Tigress said coolly, not about to go that soft all of a sudden. As if to prove her point, she started to pull away from the hug, but Po wrapped his arms around her to stop her. Maybe it was the way the night naturally brought Tigress to life in ways the day didn't or maybe it was a suppressed longing from not returning his hug when she'd previously had the chance. Whatever it was, Tigress didn't give a thought to any of the reasons why or why not. Instead, she found herself returning the hug. Finally, the unlikely pair shared their first full embrace.

Shifu was not far off, listening to Masters Ox and Croc discuss plans of reconstruction now that they were once again stewards of Gongmen City, when all of a sudden an overwhelming vision flashed before his eyes. It appeared and disappeared so quickly that he had no chance to make it out clearly. However, the strength of whatever it was had been enough to send him reeling backward as the universe seemed to come to a standstill all about him. Looking around in confusion and wondering if he shouldn't try and channel his energy to make the vision return clearer, his eyes suddenly fell on Tigress and Po as they stood with their arms about each other.

A/N - Okay...you might be thinking Tigress is ooc here... I really really tried to make this a believable based on the soft side she's starting to show to Po, based on their presumably really strong friendship even from the start of the sequel and well, based on the fact that I have to make their connection even stronger somehow right? Thus, I just couldn't resist having them finally hug each other at the same time. Onesided hugs are adorable, but a full embrace...DO WANT! I also want to take this time to say thanks for all of the fantastic reviews I've received. I'm the type of person that typically would respond to every single one of them, but FFN's new Review Reply system is utterly depressing. They should have kept the old PM format for the review replies and only implemented the new PM format strictly for personal messages.