Naidvar's TiPo Oneshot Collection!

Wanting You

"Tigress, no!" Viper cried out to her female comrade, who had recently blown past her and into the corridors of the Jade Palace. She was left to high-tail the agitated striped feline, bearing her beautiful golden hanfu and a jade green necklace bestowed upon her by Li Shan, through the barely illuminated path leading through the rich moonlight. "You can't solve this with violence, you need to talk to him!"

"WHY SHOULD I TALK TO HIM? IT'S BEEN A MONTH, VIPER! I'M TOO WEAK TO TELL HIM HOW I FEEL!" Tigress's mind was hellbent on satisfying her irrational urges, her eyes were poised to attack opponents she envisioned inside of the Training Hall and the thick fur running up and down her body was frozen in a standing ovation for her stress.

"You can't keep doing this! You're going to have to talk to him eventually! Violence isn't always the answer, it's been proven true by the fact your mind becomes more shrouded with each paw you swing!" Viper did her best to run up in front of Tigress and wrap around her, suspending her movement as she rested mere inches outside of the door leading into the Training Hall.

"You're seriously going to stand in the way of me relieving my anger? THIS IS THE ONLY WAY I KNOW HOW TO!" Tigress unceremoniously ripped Viper off her body before kicking open the door leading into the Training Hall. She wouldn't find comfort within talking, she thought.

"Tigress! You know much better than this! You've learned so much from him, you've been able to experience the world thanks to him! He's shown you so much and you've taught him what true friendship feels like, this isn't the way to voice your frustrations when you can't open your mouth!"

"It's best to speak with actions!" Tigress roared, splitting several wooden training dummies apart as she moved over to kick the Jade Palace tortoise of wisdom, which is where she was blocked by Viper. "Why won't you let me do anything by myself anymore, huh?" Viper was stung by this comment but merely slammed her paw into the sandy ground below.

"Because I can't stand to see you like this... Po can't stand to see you like this! How do you think slamming your fist into wooden training dummies is really going to help him understand how you feel about him? It's been 4 years, Tigress! You need to stop worrying about rejection, he loves you!"

"If he loves me back, he would've confessed by now!"

"Maybe he doesn't know how to! Maybe he fears rejection, just like you do-"

"I DO NOT FEAR REJECTION!" The striped feline's adrenaline was pumping and she almost overwhelmed Viper's grip on her paw, which is when she discovered an alarming symptom... She could feel pain in her paw. "OW- OW!"

"What's wrong, Tigress?" Viper's tone instantly switched from demanding to worrisome as she loosened the grip on Tigress's paw. "What do you feel?"

Tigress took a moment to snatch her paw away from Viper's coils and stare into it with confusion lining her face, she simply didn't understand... After all of that training and numbness, why were her nerves suddenly enlightened with the feeling of pain?

"Pain," Tigress coldly replied, her tail stiffening and her ears falling as she turned her back on the serpent to sit in a nearby chair. "I feel pain, not physically, but spiritually," Tigress further narrated, leaning back in the chair before burying her face in her paws.

"Your body doesn't ache from training, your mind doesn't ache from studying... Your heart aches because you're lost," Viper was treading on thin ice as she could sense Tigress shaking with a mixture of anger and sadness. "You may fear rejection, Tigress... But Po feels as if it's inevitable that you'll say no. He hasn't asked you because he's afraid that you'll shut him out and that he'd be the cause of ruining your friendship. It's only been a month, Tigress, yet you're ripping yourself apart thanks to it. If you truly want to show him your love, the best way to do it is by talking... After all, if Po didn't talk to you about how his noodles are made, how would you have figured it out yourself?" Viper's voice was instantly cut off by a whimper from Tigress, followed by her peeling her paw away from her face to reveal a fresh tear streaming down her cheek.