A/N: And here it finally is! My new story! So yeah, I feel like you guys know me well enough, so I do not need an introduction. But here's some information you'll need to know:

I believe this will be last 'long' story; a story with many chapters. Sorry, guys, but after summer holiday I start on college, and I won't have that much time to write. But I'll still try and make some wonderful one-shots to you. So please, enjoy this story.

If you can't figure it out; Tigress' name is Lan. She won't be called 'Tigress' as it isn't her birth name and this story takes place before the orphanage.

As I just said; enjoy the story my dear readers.

I do not own Kung Fu Panda.

Truth of Tall Tales
After Family

"I am Liwei. Liwei the Monster!" A threatening growl escaped his lips. "And I am going to tickle you!"

Lan screamed in happiness. Her small body quickly turned around in her attempt of escaping, but she only managed to take two steps before two strong arms grabbed her waist and lifted her up in the air. "No!" she wailed, but her screams were mixed with laughs. "No! Stop it, Liwei!"

Liwei held her up in front of him. "I told you; never tease monster." He then put her on the ground, her back against the floor, and with one paw he started tickling her stomach.

Giggling, Lan started kicking with her small legs. "No!" she kept saying, but the cry disappeared in muffled laughter. "Liweiiiii!"

"You gotta be nice to your big brother, Little Lan," the older tiger told her sternly.

"Nooooo!" she cried back. Her little paws turned into fists and she desperately tried to hit him.

Liwei finally stopped and lifted her up again; this time so high that he had his arms stretched out and she was looking down on his face. He had to admit that she was getting bigger, as he could feel how his arms started to shake beneath her weight while holding her this way. Though, he kept his arms steady. "So, have we now learned that waking up your big brother is a bad idea? Even though his snores sound like a monster's roars?"

Lan nodded, finally stopping laughing. Liwei placed her on the floor with a little grunt, and she placed her hands behind her back while looking innocently at him. She then stuck out her tongue, and turned around, running, before he could get her.

Liwei's face became brighter than the sun as he yelled, "Oh no; now you're in trouble!"

The little tiger screamed happily and ran across the room; towards he mother who was standing in the kitchen. Hiding herself behind the adult tiger's orange dress, Lan hid from her older brother. Her mother, Cuifen, laughed. "What are you doing, Lan?" she asked her gently.

The five year old tiger only giggled, so the reply came from Liwei that came running, "She is getting ready to face her big brother!"

Lan laughed. "You're the big bad tickle monster!"

As Liwei took one step to the right, she did it too, avoiding him as their mother stood in the middle. Finally, Lan saw her chance. Avoiding her brother's paws she ran towards the open door that led out of their little house.

Seeing her father walking just outside, she sprinted the rest of the way and jumped directly into his arms. He grunted a little as she suddenly clung on to him, but then held her so she could not fall down. "Dad!" she shrieked. "Help me!"

At that moment, Liwei reached them, but had to stop as he was facing his father. He smiled at him, and the older tiger smiled back. "What did she do this time?"

"She woke me up while I was sleeping!"

Lan tried to hide her giggles by pressing her face against her father's chest.

Their father, Renshu, laughed at his children's playing. He then looked at the sky. "Well, Liwei, isn't it a bit late for sleeping?"

The tiger looked a bit embarrassed and scratched his neck. "Nope," he then said. "It definitely isn't."

Renshu then broke into a laughter that almost sounded like a roar. The teenager just stared at him, waiting for the fun to fade away. Looking at himself, Liwei brushed off some dust that had been covering his clothes after his little game of tag with his sister.

When their father stopped laughing, he told him, "Your friends are looking for you."

Both his eyebrows and ears were raised in amusement. "Really?"

Renshu turned to look towards the forest that stopped just beside their house. "Yep," he muttered. "Asked me if I had seen you."

"I better get going then," Liwei said, already walking towards the trees.

"I thought you were going to give Lan a lesson about waking you up," Renshu said while smiling. He then put down the squirming Lan who had widened her golden eyes.

"Nah; I'll just do that later then." Liwei started to walk, lifting a paw to say goodbye. "I'll be back at dinner."

Lan stared at him in disappointment as she understood he was not going to chase her anymore. "Liweiii!" she shrieked. "Liweiii!"

Renshu chuckled as his daughter started running again; this time it was her chasing her brother. Entering his house, Renshu left the door open so she could return in some minutes when Liwei had sent her home.

Sighing, Liwei prepared himself. And sure enough; seconds later a body clung onto his left leg. Even though he liked playing with his sister, he was also a fifteen year old boy, soon sixteen actually, that liked hanging out with his friend.

"Where are you going, Li?" his sister asked him, looking up at him.

"Duties," he answered simply.

She cringed. "Duties," she spat out, scowling. "You are leaving because of duties?"

He nodded. "Yes, duties." Still with her clinging to his leg, he started moving. Seeing her home started getting further and further away, Lan's face became one big scowl and she unsheathed her claws.

Even though they were tiny, they were still sharp enough to cut through the fabric of Liwei's green trousers. "Ow!" he exclaimed. Looking down at his little sister, he had had enough. "Okay, time for the girl to go home." He quickly pulled her off his leg, all while she started to cry in dismay.

Placing her so that she was facing the house, he gave her back a soft push. "Go help Mom."

Finally, her shoulders sank, and she started walking with stiff angry steps. Liwei had to hold in his chuckle as he did not want her to turn around again. Seeing how his sister was almost home, the tiger then turned around to disappear among the trees.

When Lan looked over her shoulder, her brother was already gone. Looking at the big house in front of her, she decided that it was not time for her to return yet. Instead she walked around the house to look at the village below her.

Their home was placed on a hill, giving them the view of the whole village that was their home. The valley they lived in was protected by the mountains that surrounded it like a circle. There was only one place where the mountains died out; that was the entrance to the Mountain Valley.

As Lan sat down on the soft grass she looked down to see her neighbors, her friends walking around in the small streets. Only few saw her, and when they did, they would send her a soft smile.

Lan blinked her eyes as she looked at the blue sky. It was the last days of summer and now the autumn would soon come. The little tiger yawned, resting her head in her paws. Her little yellow dress became dirty as some of the earth she was lying on clung to it.

Finally, her father called her name. "Lan?"

"No, Dad," she sighed as she felt her big paws lifting her up. "Can't I stay here?"

"Your mother needs your help in the kitchen," Renshu told her as he laid her on his big arm, so she would not fall down. He then muttered under his breath, "You are too big to be carried." Lan ignored that, and instead turned around to lie on her stomach, gracefully so she did not fall down. She quickly found what she was looking for; the biggest scar on her father's arm.

The tip of her finger trailed down with it, as she felt the smooth skin. "Can I get one of those?"

Renshu looked at her in surprise, though he already knew she was an admirer of his battle scars. "No, we wouldn't want that," he told her gently as they entered the house.

"Why?" she asked, still not taking her eyes off his healed wound.

"Because it hurts very much."

"More than touching the flames?" she asked, remembering her experience with pain.

He nodded. "More than that."

Lan sighed, looking up at him. "You're a hero, right, Dad?" she asked with a voice full of admiration.

Renshu chuckled at the sight of her big eyes that were awaiting an answer. "Well, I've heard that word before," he told her, placing a little kiss on her forehead.

"You're kidding!"

Liwei shook his head. "I am definitely not! Should I be scared of a girl?"

Delun squinted. "You didn't kiss her!" he exclaimed, not believing the tiger. But as he only got a small smile in return, the fox widened his eyes. Delun had been best friends with Liwei since they had been kids, and it was the fox's idea to invite the others into the group long time ago. Delun was proud of being a part of it, and nobody dared to call him small anymore.

"Did you?" Guowei, the lynx, asked, eyes full of excitement. As Liwei nodded, he happily jumped to pat the tiger on the shoulder. "Good work, boy!" He had been Delun's neighbor, but it was first later that they really became friends. Guowei did not exactly seem as the friendly type, and because he was missing the half of his ear after a fight, his look often scared people away.

As Liwei heard a snort coming from behind him, he turned to face another of his friend. "Don't believe me, Ju?" he asked the deer.

Ju was one of the few females in the group, and even though she could act shy, she always stated her opinion. Pretty as she was, Liwei knew she was friends with most of the girls in the village, but the deer mostly hung out with his little group of friends. And annoyingly enough, she was one of the oldest of the group as she had turned the seventeen years.

The deer touched her dress before looking up at him, making sure it fit her perfectly. "I am just saying that I talked with Niu yesterday, and she did not say a word about you kissing her." She gave him a sly smile. "Besides; I know it's not her you want to kiss."

The boys let out a moan, as if it was their pride that had been hurt. Liwei just glared at her, ready to defend himself, but then another person entered the scene.

"Who kissed who?" the hyena asked, gracefully jumping down from one of the trees.

"Luli!" Delun exclaimed. "You made it!"

The hyena slowly came closer, paws behind her back. "Of course I did. And I brought company."

Behind her was an ox, big brown fur and long horns. He grinned when he saw their faces. "Don't I get a warm welcome?" the ox asked them.

Liwei took a step forwards, returning the smile. "Well, honestly, Minsheng, I thought you were getting ready for your wedding."

The ox let out a snort. "Please; I haven't even seen the girl yet! And the marriage is for going to be after the winter." Minsheng was absolutely the oldest, but after he became twenty years, he had started spending less time with the group. One of the reasons was that his parents had found him a girl that they wanted him to marry.

Luli sat down on a nearby rock, swinging her legs back and forth. "So," she said, "what did I hear about a kiss?"

Ju rolled her eyes. "Liwei says he kissed Niu, though I doubt it."

The hyena looked at Liwei in such a way that he stared at the ground instead of her. She spoke slowly, "Well, that's not exactly a surprise. Niu will kiss every boy that get close to her; she's pretty desperate."

"Jealous, Luli?" Liwei asked her with a grin.

She let out a false moan and fell to the ground clutching her heart. "Oh yes, mighty Liwei," she shrieked with false sweetness in her voice. "I have loved you since the first time I laid my eyes on you, and the thought of you kissing someone else just makes me want to rip my own heart out! And next time I see this Niu…"

The second after, she had jumped up from the ground to smack Liwei in the back of his head. "I will tell her she kissed the big thick-headed fool that we call Liwei!" she exclaimed, calmly watching him as he rubbed his head.

"Aw, come on, Luli! You can't hide hurt feelings! So let me tell you; the only reason why I kissed Niu was because I made a bet with my sister," Liwei said proudly.

Luli crossed her arms. "Really? Isn't that a bit early? Losing all your money as a five year old?"

Delun laughed at her comment. "So what was the bet about?"

The tiger jumped onto the big rock Luli had just left, standing so everybody could see him. The forest around them had gotten quiet as they were the only ones there. Soon it would be evening and the light would disappear completely.

"I told my sister it would take me less than a minute for me to kiss a girl," Liwei announced proudly. He leaned his head down towards them, "And it took me twenty-two seconds!"

"That's just because you took her by surprise," Luli snorted. "And because she didn't know about it. I am pretty sure she gave you one good slap after that kiss."

Liwei moved so he sat down, swinging his legs happily and just avoiding hitting the hyena. "Actually I ran off before she could tell who it was," he happily announced. He then leaned forward and grabbed her ear, gently shaking it. "So you don't have any competition, Luli."

Minsheng let out a deep laughter, while the hyena just pulled herself away from him. "Liwei!"

"That's me!"

"You must be absolutely crazy!" she told him sternly, turning around to stand by Ju.

Delun shook his head. "Nope," the fox said. "He is just way too confident."

"I am just being me, and you really can't blame me for that. You see, I've got my irresistible charm after my mother; the charm not even you can resist, Luli. And my strength comes after my father of course. You know him; the one who saved the valley," Liwei reminded them, jumping down from the rock.

Guowei let out a mocking laughter. "Yeah, and from whom did you get your idiotic confidence?"

Ju laughed with him, her brown eyes sparkling. "Probably his baby sister. Haven't you seen the way she gives him commands?"

Liwei let them laugh, but then rolled his eyes. "Who's the idiot now? My sister was born after me; I can't have gotten anything from her. You see; my confidence is my completely own."

"Well, you need to get rid of some of it, or else you'll just end up in trouble," Luli told him, placing her paws on her hips. "But you always end up in troubles no matter what."

"Good thing my father told me how to fix problems," the cocky tiger said.

Minsheng rolled his eyes at his friend's behavior. "You might to able to fix things, Liwei, but that doesn't mean you are able to save the valley like your father did."

Guowei nodded in agreement. "Yeah, if you ever face Tengfei, I think you will either run or he will start laughing."

Liwei growled slightly at the name. Tengfei was a malicious bear that had tried taking over their valley many years ago. Renshu had managed to stop him in a big battle, and had therefore become the hero of the valley. Tengfei returned defeated to his hideouts, but had promised revenge.

"My father has been teaching me how to fight for quite some time now. You'll just have to wait until I find it necessary to fight," Liwei told them sternly, walking among them. By the sound of their sighs it was clear that none of them truly believed him.

Well, the truth was that he had been taught a little. Not much. For some reason his father did not want him to become a warrior. Liwei guessed it was because he was afraid of losing him.

Luli walked past him, not even turning her head around as she called, "I am pretty tired of Liwei's bragging. I am going to the river."

Liwei scowled as he knew exactly what she was doing. She knew that his father had forbidden him to go to the river for some reason, and now she was testing him. Keeping his temper in check, Liwei looked at the sky and saw it was time to head home. "Well, I promised I would be back at dinner, so you'll have to go without me," he told Luli.

"I'll go to the river too," Ju said, following the hyena.

The fox, the lynx and the ox followed them. "See ya later, Liwei," they told him.

The tiger tried not to let his ears drop. "See ya," he muttered as he watched them go.

"What are you doing there, Lan?" Liwei asked tiredly from his bed, trying not to think about his friends that were busy having fun right now.

"I am making a gift for Mom and Dad," his sister announced happily, not removing her glance from the paper she was working on.

Liwei just continued staring at the ceiling as he lied in his bed. He shared room with his sister, and some time ago, their parents had told them go to bed. Still, both tigers were awake. "And what is it?"

"A painting."

His golden eyes turned towards her form that was lying on the madras. "Mother is going to get mad if you spill the ink."

She scowled slightly at his comment. "I am not going to spill," she told him sternly.

"You said that the last time too," Liwei breathed out. "And I don't think you can convince her to believe that your pee is black."

"I don't pee the bed!"

Liwei sighed as he did not want to start this discussion again. He rolled over to his side, facing the wall. "Goodnight, Lan."

Realizing she could not finish her gift tonight, Lan gently hid the paper under her bed. Placing herself under the blankets, she curled herself into a ball. "Goodnight, Li."

"You sure you kids are allowed to be out of bed this late?" the ox mocked his friends as they walked along the river.

Guowei growled at his comment. "Shut up, Minsheng." He kicked the water with his foot, causing it to splash.

But the ox just continued, "Like seriously; do your parents even know what you are doing?"

Delun jumped onto the ox's back, causing him to fall slightly forward. "At least we are not getting old."

Ju and Luli just rolled their eyes over the boys' discussion. None of them were really in the mood for swimming, so they all walked on the bank, as they knew the river quickly could turn deep.

"Have you thought of what to wear at your wedding yet, Minsheng?" Guowei asked, following the fox's strategy to make him mad. "You have to get something else than those rags of yours."

"Very funny," the ox muttered sarcastically as the two other boys laughed. "At least I am getting married; you two are going to be singles forever."

"Still better than marrying some snobby ox," Delun snorted. "And she is probably fat too."

"Hey, boys," Ju said, getting their attention before they would try and kill each other. "What's that?" she asked, pointing down the river. In the distance, they could see some shadowed figures swimming in the water, crossing the river.

Looking closer, they could also see some of the strangers on the bank, quickly disappearing into the forest. But the night made it hard to see, and for some reason the teenagers did not feel like getting closer.

"Who are they?" Delun asked, squinting.

Luli then had a horrible realization as she saw how the last stranger left the water to enter the valley. "They are heading towards the village," she said, clearly stunned.

Just as she finished her sentence, the first scream could be heard from their home.