I would like to dedicate this rewrite to AnimationGirl, who has inspired me to create an account and write for FanFiction.

I have come up with a few good ideas to make this story better, so I decided to rewrite this story. I will replace all of the chapters.

I apologize to any Tigress/Po fans for taking out the romantic parts. But I wanted to take it a little slower. I don't want to rush things with Tigress. So sorry. She does have strong feelings for Po, but she is just not exactly in "love" with him.

I prefer to write in the present tense. No matter what anyone says, I'm keeping it that way. Sorry.

I do not own Kung Fu Panda.

Dragon Heart

Secrets of the Dragons

Chapter 1

Nightmare

Tigress kicks a wolf hard in the stomach.

Tigress has no idea what she is doing in this forest, but she does remember a mission, but it doesn't turn out well. She has been ambushed by a pack of wolves. Not a very big one though. There are four lying on the ground now, unconscious.

Two more wolves come in to attack. Tigress does a roundhouse kick, knocking one wolf out. The other swings an ax at her, but she ducks out of the way and punches the wolf in the face and he falls to the ground. She eases out of her fighting stance, but her stance returns when she hears a voice.

"Hey, nice moves Tigress."

She lowers her stance when she realizes that Po is walking up to her with his hands behind his back. The tiger smiles and nods. "Thanks, Po."

The panda gives her a teasing smile, "Maybe you'll be more awesome than me one day."

Tigress lets out a light chuckle as she shakes her head. "Right."

Po then looks a little more serious. "Hey, uh, Tigress, there is something I have to tell you."

Then Tigress feels pain instantly shoot through her body, starting from her stomach.

She screams in agony and she automatically presses her paws against the pain, expecting it to be bleeding. She looks down and sees an open wound, gushing blood. She puts pressure on it, hoping that the blood will stop leaking. She panics when she sees that it doesn't seem to be working.

She looks at the panda. Po now has an evil smile on his face as he does a few fancy toss-and-catch tricks with a bloody dagger. Tigress' eyes widen, and she looks back up at the panda.

Her entire body feels weak. She tries to stand, but her legs keep failing. When she lands on her hands and knees she feels more pain surge through her. What is going on? Why would he do this?

He wouldn't. Not the panda she knows. She blinks a couple times, screaming in her mind that this is nothing but a nightmare. But it feels too real.

"Po?" She winces in pain. Her voice comes out weak and strained. "What... what are you doing?"

Po ignores the question, and he walks closer to her, an evil laugh leaving his throat. "So much for the hardcore Master Tigress. If you really were, this probably wouldn't have happened."

Tigress gives him a weak angry snarl. Po holds up his right index finger.

"Ah, watch the temper. You certainly don't want me to kill you right now, do you? But of course, I don't want to have to do that... yet. I want you to see you suffer."

The tiger's eyes fill up with anger, trying to cover the sadness she really feels inside. She gives a low growl. What is happening? Why is Po acting like this? She can't let him kill her!

The evil panda continues talking. "Did you really think that you and I could ever actually be friends?" He looks into her eyes. "Who could possibly want to become friends with a monster like you?"

The word "monster" words strike Tigress as bad as the dagger. She rises to her feet and swings an arm to strike the panda with her paws, but she misses completely and falls back onto her knees, breathing heavily.

She looks at the panda with sadness in her eyes, but still tries to cover it with the anger that also burns inside her. Why would Po say such a horrible thing to her? He would never say that. He can't even so much as think that word. He has never actually said it before.

But this panda... this panda is different. This is not Po. It cannot be. What happened to him?

"Neither your master nor your friends care about you," he continues. "Ha. They don't love you. They never have and they never will."

Tigress' body shakes as she tries to force herself to hit the panda away from her, but her body will not allow her. Po smiles, amused that tigress is still trying to show her former emotionless self.

The tiger squeezes her eyes shut, beginning to feel the hopelessness overwhelm her. Her eyes start to tear up, and she tries to talk, but has a rather difficult time. But she gives Po a glare of fury as she manages to get two words out.

"Kill me."

The panda looks surprised to hear her say that. Then he gives another menacing grin and a short chuckle. "You just want me to end all the pain, is that it?" He pauses, waiting for Tigress to say something, but she stays silent. "Well, as you wish."

He takes several steps back before tossing the dagger in the air. He jumps up, spins, and kicks it. The dagger is flying directly toward the center of the tiger's chest, with the blade completely horizontal.

Tigress shuts her eyes tightly, hoping the dagger will just disappear before it hits her. But she knows that is impossible.

The dagger gets closer and closer until it is just about to impale her body.

Then she opens her eyes.

She sits up and finds herself back on her bed in her bedroom at the barracks of the Jade Palace. It is the middle of the night and everyone else is still sleeping, on top of their covers, too, because it is too warm to sleep under the blankets.

She breathes heavily and checks her stomach for a wound, but she finds nothing. She gives a sigh of relief. It was just a nightmare. Of course Po isn't evil.

But why now? She hasn't had nightmares since she was taught to fear nothing, and that was years ago, many years.

She feels herself trembling along with this other feeling that she had not felt in a long number of years.

Fear.

She is afraid of the nightmare. But why? Why is she afraid? There is nothing to worry about. However...

What if this nightmare had some kind of meaning? What is the point of this dream? Was it some kind of warning? Did it mean that Po is going to turn evil sometime later and kill her?

She shakes her head to get rid of the questions, but they continue to haunt her as she stands up and walks to her door. She opens it a little bit, just enough to see if the hallway is clear. There is nobody in sight. She leaves and closes her door behind her. Then she walks up to Po's door.

She just stands there. Not sure of what to do. Should she tell Po about the dream? She is frozen to the floor as she ponders this decision.

How will Po react to hearing this dream? Will he tell her to leave him alone and go back to bed?

The tiger immediately pushes the question aside. No. Po wouldn't do that. Her exhaustion must be confusing Po with Master Shifu.

The old master used to do that if she had woken up in fear. He would tell her that she should learn to face her fears alone. She would receive no comfort whatsoever.

But how will Po react? Will he try to comfort her? Tell her that it is only a dream, and there is absolutely nothing to worry about? Will he be scared by the dream and end up having it invade his dreams too? Or worse, will he think that the dream is a sign that he will become evil and leave the Valley of Peace and never return, just to protect her?

No. She can't tell him. She cannot lose him. Not again.

Her heart had crumbled when she thought that Shen had killed him, and surely it would be destroyed if she were to lose him again, permanently. She cares for the panda, very much. He has helped her much with her own problems, especially after Shen defeat three weeks ago. She can't stand to have her friend die, but to have him leave the Valley and disappear without a trace...

She stops her thinking with a head shake. She gives a sigh as she turns around to head back to bed, she feels angry at herself for being such a coward. She could talk to Po about anything, so why not this? She reaches to open the door.

But something holds her back, a feeling inside her, telling her not to go, reminding her of the nightmare.

She is afraid she might have it again.

Then she decides to change course and head towards the exit.

She reaches the top of the hill where the peach tree is. She sits down and begins to meditate on her nightmare.

There must be a point to this. This must mean something. Or is it indeed just a dream?

Tigress tries to find the answer. Her mind becomes an explosion of questions. Questions she cannot answer, questions that cause her to ask opposite questions.

Maybe this dream is just a one time thing. But then again, it might not be. Dreams like this were made to stick in someone's head for a long time, at least, until something happens.

Tigress sighs in disappointment. There is just simply no answer. She is stuck with this horrible dream.

And she can't do anything about it.

Death in the family.

Name: Buddy.

Species: Dog.

Gender: Male.

Date of Death: May 28, 2013.

Age: 17 (119 in dog years... I think... I'm not really sure).

Yeah, my aunt's dog died the day I posted this chapter. Boy, was she upset, and so was my uncle. Our other dog is going to be by herself now when we all leave for school or work or whatever.