Chapter Text
It was a real kung fu school—the first of its kind in Amur. Now, martial arts weren’t only for the soldiers, but any tiger who wanted to try. Tigress was the proudest of the girl’s classes, which she designed herself.
Of course, it would take a while for the kingdom to truly embrace this change. There were a lot of older citizens who pushed back against the school. They thought that it was unnatural, for women to fight. Tigress could only hope that the sentiment would fade over time.
Tigress met Po outside of the school and stared up at it. It was a temporary building for now, built in the remains of the old military’s barracks, but it would do. Tigress put her hands on her hips and looked over at Po. “Does everything look ready?”
“Yep,” the panda confirmed eagerly. “The masters we wrote to come teach here are all settled in, and classes will be ready to start next week.”
“Think it will be fine without us?”
“I think it will be awesome.”
Tigress chuckled under her breath and shook her head. “You think everything is awesome.”
“That’s true.”
Shifu came out of the school, his hands tucked behind his back. He looked at his two pupils, a smile tugging at his usually tense features. “I’m proud of you both. You broke a lot of rules, but in the end, it all turned out fine.”
“You taught us well, Master.” Tigress bowed to him respectfully. “Thank you for trusting us to do things our way.”
“It’s not like you would have listened to me.” Shifu glared at Po, although he was still smiling. “I think that the panda is a bad influence.”
“You’re probably right about that.”
Shifu strolled down the steps to the barracks. “Ready to go back home?”
“Soon.” Tigress glanced down the street, in the direction of a particular building in which a particular girl was waiting for her. “There’s just one thing we have to do before we leave.”
Shifu looked at Tigress over his shoulder. “Are you ready?” he asked. “Being a parents is an even greater challenge than protecting a kingdom.”
“I don’t know if I am ready,” Tigress admitted. “But I know that it is what needs to be done, and that it is what I want to do.”
“Very good,” Shifu said. He winked at her and started off again. “I will meet you at the boat.”
Tigress let out a slow breath and reached for Po’s hand. He took it and squeezed. “I’ll help you out too,” he assured her. “I think you’re doing the right thing.”
Tigress nodded, and together they walked to the orphanage. Bai was outside, playing with some of the other girls. From the looks of it, they were acting out the incident at the royal wedding. Bai, naturally, was pretending to be Tigress, and her playmates were the assassins. When Bai noticed the real Tigress coming her way, she dropped the game and ran over. On the way, she picked up a suitcase sitting in front of the orphanage door.
She was dressed in her best clothes, as was the tradition for adoption at this orphanage. She looked up at Tigress, and Tigress looked down at her fondly. “Are you ready to go?”
“I’m nervous,” Bai admitted. She looked back at the orphanage. She looked conflicted, and Tigress understood.
Even though her own time in an orphanage wasn’t something she liked to remember, leaving it behind had been difficult. Bai was probably feeling something rather similar. Tigress kneeled in front of Bai and set a hand on her shoulder. “It’s your first real adventure.”
“What if the other masters at the Jade Palace don’t like me?”
Po laughed at that and gave the little girl a kind grin. “That’s not possible. You’re the coolest kid in all of China.”
Bai giggled. “You’re just saying that.”
“Maybe.” Po shrugged. “But it’s the truth.”
Tigress held Bai’s hand and stood. Po took the girl’s other hand, and they walked together as a unit, toward the river. “Besides, you are my pupil, so that means you are special.”
“It’s true,” Po chimed in. “Tigress doesn’t like most people. The fact that she likes you is a great sign.”
Bai giggled. “Okay, okay. I believe you,” she said happily. She skipped between them, and Tigress realized that they probably looked like a real family, walking like this. Bai smiled. “I can’t wait to go home.”