A shadow appeared in front of Master Shifu, the bulky feline coming to a stop in front of him. Tail Lung stood before him once again... the leopard glowered, a small growl forming in the back of his throat.
"I really hate you!" Tai Lung snarled, his fists clenching.
"And that is fine." Shifu smiled, seeming so serene when glancing around the beautiful flora around them.
"After everything... after giving me false hopes, and then TWENTY YEARS IN PRISON AND FACING HUMILIATION TIME AFTER TIME! You expect me to forgive you?! Just like that?!" The feline hissed, looking rather murderous.
"No."
"Then what do you WANT from me, old man?!" He roared, charging over to him and coming to an abrupt stop as he fell on all four paws and came face to face with the red panda, he bared his fangs and claws scathed the ground threateningly.
"Peace. I want you to find peace." Shifu said lowly, and Tai Lung's ear twitched at the whisper; he sneered as if disgusted with the old rat in front of him, the fur on his back almost raising.
"HAH! What a pathetic wish... well you know what I wish?! I wish for you to just DIE like the rotten corpse you are!"
Shifu smiled, as if he knew something Tai Lung didn't. This look enraged the snow leopard, and the bulky male growled. "Why you-"
At that second, Shifu did something completely unexpected. It certainly surprised Tai Lung, which caused the feline to freeze as he was.
When those frail arms wrapped around his neck, and Shifu's head rested on his shoulder, it made his pupils shrink in shock.
"My time here, is over."
Those words made Tai Lung's skin prickle, his snarl fell, and the leopard narrowed his eyes, "What are you mumbling about, old man?!" He exclaimed, quickly backing off and taking a few steps away from Shifu as if he was a disease, but still remained crouched.
"Tai Lung, I-"
"MASTER SHIFU!" Their heads snapped to the side when a roar broke out and Tai Lung was suddenly tackled, the two felines engaging in a brief brawl on the ground until Tai Lung jumped away, but didn't attack.
Tigress stood before Shifu, growling under her breath at Tai Lung.
"Tigress, enough." Shifu said in a strict voice, which made the tiger look back at him in bafflement.
"But master shi-"
"Stand down... I have something to say to both of you..."
The two felines stared at the red panda, both of them confused.
"You two, had been the best students I ever had... and I am sorry that I had not shown you two enough love or acknowledgment. You are great... both of you." Shifu closed his eyes, pausing for a moment and let a sigh through his nose, the breeze picked up slightly, listening to the grass ruffle around them, and the waterfalls gently flow down the mountain.
"Master Shifu what are you—"
"It is time I take my leave." The fog rose up from below, forming a beautiful cloud in front of them and around the red panda. "Tigress, you have done well, I leave you and my students the palace..." He glanced towards Tai Lung, a smile forming on his face, "Tai Lung is welcomed there anytime. I hope you find what you need, my student... everyone deserves a second chance."
"Master Shifu..." It didn't take long to understand what Shifu was talking about when he said those words. They had been silent the whole time, and there was a small pause after he finished talking. He was taking his leave, he might meet Oogway along the way...
Tigress's eyes saddened, and she closed her eyes, "Understood..." She had found her peace, and she clasped her paws together, bowing to her master.
"I am proud of you Tigress, take care of Po. Will you?" Shifu smiled, and the tiger looked up, a smile of her own taking place. "Goodbye, master." She was sad he was leaving, but she accepted it and also felt happy that her master finally was at peace. She will bid his farewell to the others as well...
"GRR! SHIFU!" Tai Lung roared, taking a few stomps closer to the smaller kung fu master whom was slowly getting engulfed by the mist. He ran towards him, and even swiped a claw at him, but it just went through him as if he was a ghost.
Tai Lung's eyes widened in shock, and Shifu smiled at him for one last time...
"I love you. I'll always be with you."
That was the moment Shifu's old blue eyes saw it... one stray tear fell from a corner of his ex-student's yellow eyes, slipping down and disappearing as if it had never been there.
"SHIFU!" Tai Lung yelled as the mist dispersed along with Shifu, leaving the two felines alone on the quiet mountain.
"..."
"..."
Tigress watched the leopard just stand there, huffing angrily as if he had run a marathon. None of them said anything for a while...
"That old rat is gone." He panted.
The tiger master just turned her back on him. Her ear twitched, however, when she heard a shout, and looked over the edge of the grassy cliff to see Po slowly climbing up and trying to catch up. Her eyes half-lidded, and she glanced back at the leopard, "Well... like master Shifu said, you are welcomed any time." She respected Shifu's wish, she knew that the old master knew what he was talking about. Her eyes narrowed, "But if you pose any threat to my friends or the palace, I will not hesitate to kill you."
Tai Lung growled, hunching over and getting on all fours but never looking back at her, "I'm not coming back..."And with that said, he gave one powerful leap and jumped up on the higher rocks, Po just managed to reach where Tigress was just as the leopard's tail disappeared over the cliff.
The tiger glanced back at the panting panda with a small frown, turning her back on him, "What is it, Po?"
"Tigress, look! I don't—I don't know-" he took in a deep breath, "-how I'll get my memory back, but I swear I'll try! But just because I can't remember doesn't mean you have to ignore me! Please!" Po ran over in front of her and grabbed her shoulders, looking almost desperate for her attention. Tigress just looked away for a moment, but then sighed, "Let go, Po." She deadpanned.
"NO!" Po exclaimed, "You have to listen to me! I can't take your attitude anymore, dude!"
"Dude?" The tiger master lifted a brow at him.
"W-Well, I don't know!" The panda flushed, unsure of what to say. "Just- just don't..." He sighed, "Don't do that, it hurts."
"It hurts that you don't remember." She said with a straight face.
"..." Po looked down.
"Thought so." The tiger snorted and turned back around, walking back down towards their home again.
"I remember."
"..." Tigress froze in her steps.
"Well... I don't remember what happened, at all... but I remembered how you made me feel." He stood up confidently and stared at the back of her head with narrowed eyes and a frown, "I remember feeling happy, and feeling scared but then the comfort of... well... you. I don't remember what we did, what happened or where we were when stuff happened... I don't remember anything at all... but... I remember your presence. I remember how warm you were, and I felt... well... happy." Po grinned, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I-It's not much but... I think it's convincing enough for me to realize that you are one heck of a babysitter!"
Tigress clenched her jaw, just standing there like a statue.
"And it hurts when you're ignoring me like this, after all this time of being... well... loved." Po mumbled, rubbing his chubby arm nervously, hoping that he didn't sound too cheesy or anything.
But his eyes widened when he felt a gust of a breeze and strong arms wrapping around him, but he didn't hesitate to quickly hug back. "Haha... now that's more like it." He grinned goofily, and after Tigress took a step back to break the hug, she smiled.
"I love you."
This made Po's jaw unhinge, gapping at her like an idiot, "U-Uh..."
"Let's go home... we have work to do... and I have an announcement to make to the others." The tiger said, patting his shoulder and turning around to walk down the narrow pathway down to the palace.
Po just stood there for a few minutes, trying to soak up the three words she just told him. Nobody aside from his dad had ever told him that before! It was... shocking? Especially coming from Tigress, but he couldn't help but feel joy and a weird flutter in his stomach, and no, it wasn't from hunger this time.
"A-Ah! Tigress wait!" He quickly ran after her, catching up, but tripping over a rock and fell flat on his face, which made the tiger chuckle, but continued down as he picked himself up and dusted himself off, following her.
"Waaaaiittt Tigress!" He whined, sort of annoyed that she wasn't waiting for him. "Wait! I want to say I love you too, too!" He exclaimed, flailing his arms.
Tigress paused, glancing back at him. The panda stopped a meter away from her with a frown on his face. "Yeah... I love you too." He pouted, crossing his arms, he actually looked... pretty sure of himself.
"I know." She smiled, extending her hand to him, which made him blink in confusion, before he hesitantly lifted his own paw and took it.
Tigress leaned over and kissed his cheek, which made the panda blush behind his fur, and he giggled stupidly, "Oh stop it you~"
"Okay, I won't do it again, sorry." The tiger shrugged.
"Hey wait, you know I didn't mean it like that!"
"What did you mean then?"
"I just—I was—ugh never mind..."
"Alright then."
"...Hey Tigress..."
"Hm?"
"...Can I have another kiss?"
...
Tai Lung walked along the mountain, his eyes half-lidded and almost seemed dead. What purpose did he have now? He couldn't possibly go back to those fools! He would be feared at the village anyway, and he would never be able to fit in. He was a spit of dirt in this clean world, he did not belong here... but where would he go?
*sob* *sob* *sob!*
The bulky leopard paused when he heard crying... he had stopped in front of a cave, where pools of water rested and multiple waterfalls peacefully flowing down around it... and a mossy statue of a large dragon stood ageless at the end of the shallow cave, a single drop of water dripping from its nose onto a small flat rock under it each time.
There was something familiar about this cave, but he couldn't quite recall what... however that thought perished the moment his yellow eyes landed on a small black ball of fluff sitting just under the dragon in nothing but a ragged dress. It shook from the crying, and Tai Lung snorted, his feet splashing softly in the water as he approached the figure without hesitation.
It was a cub, looking around the age of seven. A panther cub with her tail curled towards her frail body. Her head shot up and her green eyes widened when she spotted him standing tall over her, unafraid and cold.
The female cub quickly scurried backwards, but the wall didn't allow her to go any further.
"W-Who are you?!" She squealed, placing her hands in front of her as if that would defend her. "Leave me alone! Don't hurt me!"
The snow leopard narrowed his eyes, this little panther looked oddly familiar...
"What's your name, brat?"
The little cub sniffed, her big emerald eyes looking watery and afraid, "I... I don't know..."
Tai Lung's eyes flashed in surprise and confusion, but then his eyes narrowed, "Ah... what are you doing here?"
"I-I don't know... I don't... I don't remember anything at all..."
"Do you know of your past... perhaps?" The leopard asked and lifted his chin, his eyes narrowing.
"No... Nothing..."
"Hm..." His tail flicked, briefly wondering how a young cub like this had the exact same characteristics as that witch. She was dead, burned to ashes by her own chi... how could she possibly be reincarnated into a seven year old child with amnesia?
His ear twitched when he heard a whisper at the back of his mind...
Everyone deserves a second chance.
"You must be cold and hungry." Tai Lung deadpanned, walking over and staring down at her like a cold ghost. "Little brats like you should not be out here."
"But I have nowhere to go!" The cub weeped, wiping her tears away with her little paws.
"..." Tai Lung stared down at her blankly for a long moment. He then grunted, turning away as his tail wrapped around the girl's arm as if to pull her up. "Come."
"B-But-!"
"Do you want to die?" Tai Lung growled, turning around completely and began to walk towards the edge of the cliff, stopping to stare at the distance.
"N-No..." The cub mumbled, slowly coming to a stand, and padding her way towards the scary leopard.
"Then come with me." He deadpanned and turned to start walking up the path.
The little girl looked around, then quickly ran after him and tugged at his worn out pants; he glanced down at her, "What?"
"But... what will my name be?"
"Your name is Daiyu." Tai Lung stated, as if he had already decided what to do, "I will raise you."
Hearing that made the little panther's eyes shine like jewels, a happy grin breaking on her face. "Okay daddy!"
"That is disgusting, do not call me that."
The End.
/
Hi, I'm back. And I finally finished it. Forgot this even existed, but I made an ending anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story. You can make up your own alternative endings in the reviews, might be amusing to read.
Anyway, thank you for reading this, your reviews were much appreciated and all the positive feedback and critics were nice. If you ask why it took me so long to finish, well I had fallen into depression but now I'm good, I also finished 3 books of mine and I'm proud of them. Anyway, goodbye. ;) thanks for reading.