A/N: Hello! Well, I have the final chapter for The Trouble with Creativity! I guess I won't stand here and chit chat with you, let's get onto the story! I hope you enjoy it! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda.

Chapter Thirteen: The Ceremony

Today was the day. No more waiting, no more practicing. Today was the Ceremonial Festival of the Masters.

Tigress stared at her reflection in the mirror, trying to take in the moment. She only had a few more minutes to herself before the chaos of the day started and she felt that she needed every second she could get. She tightened the golden sash around her waist and smoothed her fur down once more before letting out a small breath, releasing her emotions into the air.

She walked to her bamboo door and counted the last five seconds before the gong rang and stepped out into the hallway to greet Master Shifu. Everyone was up and alert, it seemed as if they had already been awake for hours.

The red panda proudly stood in the middle of the hallway dressed his green ceremonial cloak and simply gave a nod of the head, ordering them to begin the last minute tasks for the celebration.

The Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior didn't have to say another word, they had all been given a schedule that listed their duties leading up to the ceremony at noon and knew exactly what to do. The tiger bowed in unison with her comrades to the grandmaster and then scurried off in separate ways to their designated spots.

As Tigress turned the corner, she caught Po's eye and nodded. The panda smiled brightly and mouthed 'zero days' before leaving to help set up the refreshments.

The feline shook her head in amusement before departing the Student Barracks for the outside platform where the Kung Fu demonstrations and ceremonies were to take place. She was in charge of setting up the stage and keeping the presentations on schedule.

A fairly large circle of chairs were sitting in the corner towards the back of the platform, and Tigress quickly started pulling them of their hiding spot and starting placing them in their proper order. She looked at her list and counted to make sure she had enough seats for every master and their apprentices.

There were twenty-six masters attending the festival and they had brought over fifty apprentices. There was going to be fifteen different presentations in total.

Before she started arranging the seats for the show-casings, Tigress set aside three chairs for the Grandmasters of the Festival: One for Grandmaster Shifu, one for Grandmaster Croc of Gongmen City, and one for the late Grandmaster Oogway. Since the turtle's passing, it was respectful and mandatory to leave a place for the master that discovered and founded the art of Kung Fu.

She turned to begin setting up the multiple chairs only to bump into the Dragon Warrior. "Po, what are you doing here?" she asked.

He set down the crate that was in his paws and shrugged. "I had to go run down to my dad's shop to get something and I thought I'd come and say hi."

Tigress lifted a chair to the other side of the stage. "Hello, then."

"Are you ready for today?" he asked softly.

"I believe so…" she replied. "Thank you again for assisting me."

Po walked over while dragging another stool over to her. "Anytime…"

Tigress stood and watched panda with a cautious eye. "Po?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" she questioned. "This isn't your assignment."

He met her eyes and sighed. "Fine, I'll go. But I'd rather hang out with you."

The tiger crossed her striped arms and chuckled. "Go on…"

Po scooped up his wooden crate with a groan and reluctantly left the stage, shuffling his feet as he did so.

Tigress went back to moving the chairs around with a smirk on her face. That panda was always looking for an excuse to see her. She glanced at her chart again. Master Leopard and her students were demonstrating first, but were not to be placed next to Master Frog. Master Frog wanted to go second, but did not want to be next to Master Owl.

The feline sighed; this was going to be a long morning.

Hours later, the festival had begun and the streets were filled with joyous villagers. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the demonstrations and seminars had gone very smoothly.

Tigress studied her clipboard with the long list of presentations. There was going to be one more routine by the apprentices of Master Lynx before her creative form show-casing. After the creative forms were complete, Master Shifu was going to give a final speech and the Ceremonial Festival of the Masters would be over. Tigress felt a slight smile on her lips, they had gone through so much to prepare for this celebration, and now it was almost over.

As she ushered the young beginning students to the stage, she felt the vibration of anxiety flowing throughout her body. She noticed through the corner of her eye that all the masters and grandmasters were starting to gather near the stage to get ready to witness the Jade Palace masters' routines.

She performed the form in her mind over and over again while she waited for the small children to finish their routine. She slowly got off of the stage to join the rest of the Furious Five and Po to wait for Shifu's announcement, there were butterflies swarming the tiger's stomach.

As she waited, she crossed her paws behind her back and stood up very straight, her ears were pulsing along with her heartbeat with every passing second. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her paw. The touch was light and friendly, reassuring. She glanced behind her and saw that it was Po.

"You're going to do great," he whispered.

She smiled gently. "So are you…"

Tigress' fiery eyes lit up and her heart quickened as she heard her master speak:

"Now, the moment you have all been waiting for: the masters of the Jade Palace Creative Form Show-casing!" Master Shifu exclaimed.

Master Crane waved his wings in an excited manner to his comrades before stepping onstage to perform his form. The crowd roared with delight as he demonstrated creative techniques that included many variations of air fighting.

When it was Po's turn to show-case his creative form, Tigress watched with great interest. The panda had certainly kept his form a secret, not once had he showed it to her, but she knew it was going to be great.

The Dragon Warrior's form was certainly entertaining. He started the routine by sitting on the ground in a meditative lotus position with three different weapons in front of him. His jade eyes were closed as a soft melody played in the background. It almost seemed as if the panda was just going to stay in his position until the music burst into an energetic and intense beat and Po sprung into the air performing a series of fast kick combinations. He gave a quite a few battle cries as he did what seemed like a cartwheel and knife slashes. It was definitely creative. The Dragon Warrior finished his routine by landing back in his meditative stance with his eyes closed once more.

Tigress smiled as the crowd cheered. It had been one of the most impressive forms so far. She gave Po a nod of approval as she passed him and stepped onto the platform. It was her turn for the form… and she was very ready.

She approached the three Grandmasters and bowed to each of them, even to the seat that was empty. "I am ready, Master." she spoke.

Master Shifu bowed back to her with a twinkle in his eye. "Very well, Master Tigress. You may begin."

Tigress moved to the center of the stage and stood in her ready stance. As she did so, all of the activities that she and Po had done together flowed through her mind. She closed her eyes and took in one more breath. It was time to begin. She stood up straighter, pulled her arms in tighter, and placed a solemn expression on her face, creating the scene, the masterpiece.

This was her form, this was her time. There was no going back. She had decided what to put into the form; she had chosen the moves, the story, the plotline, the opponent.

She began with the slow moving square blocks, focusing intently on the snap of the movement. When she finished with the third one, she swept her leg into the air and landed in a deep stance with grace, just as she had done when she had danced with Po.

She tightened her paws into fists and pulled them back into her rib cage. She looked down to the ground and slowly moved her eyes up to the crowd of villagers and masters, feeling the passion for Kung Fu inside of her.

Immediately, the feline sparked into action, slicing the air with fast attack jump kicks and her sharp claws. She landed with aggressive elegance and quickly moved on to the next part of the routine. The music that she had chosen to play along with the form was dramatic and dangerous sounding, as if a shark was approaching in the water.

She moved around the stage mysteriously, as if she had a secret to hide within in the form. She continued sneaking around until she exploded again, performing six lightning fast round kicks, each of them pointing in a different direction. During the last kick, she yelled with such determination and expression that the adrenaline that she was feeling faded and she was living in the moment.

Suddenly, she acted as if she had been hit and she fell down hard onto the platform. She heard everyone gasp with surprise, but she put a smirk on her face and performed a kick-up that turned into deadly double splits.

She continued to do a few more hand and kick combinations before leaping into the air for the final blow. She twisted her body dramatically into the air while slicing her opponent with her pointed claws. She yelled one last time before falling into a deep sparring stance, a look of victory was plastered on her face.

She looked into the crowd and she snapped out of her trance as they applauded with great intensity. She bowed formally to them and to the three grandmasters before stepping off of the stage. She could still hear the shouts of approval as she walked back to the small hut where the rest her comrades were waiting. Her teammates congratulated her, amazed by her performance. She felt herself smile, the creative form was over, and she was glad that she had succeeded.

There was a small break in between the creative form show-casing and the closing ceremony, it was a rewarding time to rest. Soon enough, the other masters and their apprentices started to fill into the room; they also were to walk onto the stage with everyone else to receive the final appreciation of the numerous villagers.

Surprisingly, the masters and their students kept coming up to her with compliments. Apparently, her form had been the most successful. The masters smiled brightly with inspiration in their eyes as they told the feline that it was as if they had been fighting alongside her, as if it was a real battle. The students went on to compliment her focus and intensity, and they told her that they could feel the pressure within themselves as they watched her.

Tigress was amazed. As she bowed to each and every master and their younger warriors, she glanced at Po with an awestruck look on her face. Po simply nodded, she deserved such great feedback.

The time came for the closing ceremony and everyone shuffled onto the tight stage together. Master Shifu walked in front of the crowd and bowed to them before beginning his speech.

"I would like to thank you for coming to this special occasion. It has been quite a turnout. Let us give yet another hand for our wonderful Kung Fu warriors."

The Valley of Peace echoed with applause. It was everlasting, eternal.

Tigress could hear several children shouting her name and cheering with enjoyment of her routine. She looked to Po, who was already looking at her, and smiled. She couldn't have done it without him. Her reputation did not fall into pieces. In fact, she was probably going to have an even better reputation after this, all thanks to Po.

The rest of Master Shifu's words were not heard by Tigress, she was too busy taking in the moment of joy within her. She locked her amber eyes with Po's once more, telling him thank you.

Tigress learned that it actually wasn't hard to be creative at all. She just needed a little help, a few activities, and a little inspiration. She created a strong friendship as well as a form, and it was a relationship that lasted forever.

No one, however, ever found out about the assistance that the tiger had received or the activities that she and Po had done together. It was always going to be their little secret.

The End

A/N: Wow! I can't believe the story is over! Well, this is your last chance to tell me what you thought of it! Hopefully it was a nice ending for you. Thank you all so much for the wonderful feedback and support you have given me, not just for this story, but for all of my work. Thank you... :) Right now, I don't have any plans for another big story. I might have one in the future, but not anytime soon. I'll keep you posted on how everything goes. Again, thank you for reading, it means the world to me...