Part 2

"It was a long time later, at least ten years. Every night I went out to the same tree and hit it until my knuckles bled and shins were cut, and every night I would repair myself to hide the wounds so that Master Shifu wouldn't find out. Each time I hit that tree, it seemed like I was knocking something out of me but I couldn't figure out why, why I, I thought that."

"It was when he made us do an exercise of self-control. Hot rocks, all steaming in that black cauldron just made us all feel weak, for we couldn't outrun or outfight a rock. We just had to hold it and ignore the pain. Shifu did it with us, to prove how effective self-control could be. Everyone picked it up, and within 5 seconds: Crane, Viper, Mantis holding a pebble, and Monkey couldn't take it. I was just standing there opposite Shifu, still with the rock in my hand. He gave me a look to suggest that I had cheated in some way; no student of his had ever lasted so easily for so long. So he held the rock and then he realised what I had become. He then took my hand and tried to squeeze it to get me to feel something. I didn't know he was doing it, I was only concerned with the faces of my friends who just seemed to look in confusion, awe and shock at the same time. I could still feel that he was touching me, but I thought he was holding it, not clamping his hand around mine with such determination to prove that, what he thought was my self control, could be broken. When he gave up, he suddenly had a thought. And so he dragged me to one side and said…"

"When did you learn that control?" Shifu asks. Suddenly she is taken back to that moment.

"I was… just holding the stone." She explains, there was no control.

"You held it for 2 minutes without wincing or reacting at all." Shifu complements. "Do you have some secret that I'm not aware of?" Punching trees is a good answer.

She doesn't reply.

"Some technique you hide, something even I don't know?" Shifu presses.

She is silent as they go out of the outside and into the inside where he shuts to door, preventing entry to the other 4. He turns towards her with an angry yet half pleased look.

"So you can't feel anything, I don't suppose you are punching those trees outside the palace were you?" Shifu accuses flatly. A 15-year-old tigress tries to explain but she is stopped.

"Because those are Ironwood trees, they don't break because they make you break first. Many have tried to conquer it's strength, myself included, but it is a futile exercise because…" Shifu explains but he is stopped by a disturbance from the outside.

The door re opens, not from the others breaking in, but Master Oogway with his staff stands in the doorway, like the door opened for him.

"Master Oogway." Shifu says as he bows along with Tigress for him. "Is something wrong?" He asks, whenever he comes, something is usually wrong.

"No, nothing is wrong, it's just what you or her think is wrong that makes it wrong, not the thing itself." Oogway mystically says, Shifu being confused by his language use. "You have grown a lot since I last saw you." He says, now turning and walking slowly to Tigress.

"Tell me, why do you punch the same tree each night without fault for more than 10 years? The tree has never done anything bad to you." Oogway asks.

"I, I…" She stammers.

"If you want to get rid of all pain and all suffering that you have, you may reach your goal, but think about what you are losing. It is true when you hit someone, it hurts, and you feel it and it stings. But when you feel no pain, you lose also the critical ingredients that make us who we are, that make us different from the fish in the ocean or the flies in air. If you can't feel pain, you will not feel someone else's pain, you will not be able to think of the last time you felt a breeze or the warm heat of a fire in winter. By choosing this path, you are destroying the other half of what it is to be a kung fu master. When you can no longer have empathy, then what kind of warrior are you? You will not be able to distinguish the good from the evil because it will feel the same. If you choose the path of the painless, I won't stop you; you may become the best fighter the world has ever seen. But that won't make you the best warrior, or indeed master." Oogway explains. Shifu looks at Tigress.

"Master!" Shifu shouts, turning back towards where he was but he is gone and the door shut again. He turns back to Tigress, more determined this time.

"Keep going, you will become the best fighter the world has ever seen." Shifu determinedly states before walking out of the Dojo. In the gap between the set of double doors, she sees the sets of eye from her friends that look shocked and curious.

"Apparently, that night, while I was sleeping. They poked me and kept seeing how hard they could hit me until I woke up. But I never did. You can probably figure out what happens next, I literally beat out the last of my feeling so that I could become the most ruthless and feared fighter possible."

"But why didn't Shifu listen to Oogway?" Po asks, pointing out the obvious question.

"It seems he did not fully appreciate his master until he was gone, just like with many things." She says as she reaches down and dips her hand into the frigid waters below, not that she can feel it's icy cold liquid running past the boat. She tries to imagine what being cold feels like, but nothing comes. She had not missed the touch and feeling before this morning, it was an advantage over her foes and her lack of feeling allowed her go into situations that no one else wanted or dared to. She was, is and will continue to be the weapon that she has crafted herself to be.

But now she has changed, if only a small change but it could lead her towards something that could complete her. Something that could bring the other half back to her that she has buried and destroyed and make her become more than just a fighter. And with this big, fluffy panda…

It can happen.

The End