Noodle Soup (for the Soul)

Disclaimer: I neither own the rights to DreamWorks, Kung Fu Panda, the Kung Fu Panda cinematic universe nor any of its associated media, derivatives or products. I do not profit from this work.

Summary: Shortly after Tai Lung's defeat, Tigress apologizes to Po for how she treated him during his first days in the palace. In the process, Po figures out something important about Tigress's desire to be the Dragon Warrior.


"...You wanna get something to eat?"

A sigh. Then a considering pause.

Then Shifu nodded. "Yeah."

Po grinned and sat up, offering a hand. The apparently-not-dead master was just reaching out to accept it when the golden light from the doorway was interrupted by five long shadows.

"Master Shifu!"

"Master!"

Shifu and Po looked over in surprise as the warriors burst into the hall and then came to a stop. "Uh– hey, guys," Po said, grinning.

"Master Shifu!" Viper exclaimed, overjoyed. "You're okay!"

"Man, we all thought you were a gonner!" Mantis said, with obvious relief, though Viper hissed at him.

"Mantis! Be polite!"

"What? We did! You heard his whole speech; if that wasn't 'final goodbyes' I don't know what was!"

"He's got a point," Monkey agreed.

"Be respectful! He could have died!" Viper said, annoyed and unintentionally undermining her own point.

"Well, clearly, he's not dead," Crane said, ruffling his feathers.

"Crane is correct, I am not dead," Shifu volunteered, mildly exasperated, but as the bickering continued one figure stepped forward, hitherto silent, and dropped to a knee in front of him. "Tigress…"

"You're alive." The words escaped the master in something like a barely-restrainted exhale, and Po blinked, looking between her and his teacher in surprise. "I thought…" She seemed to struggle with herself, and to Po's immense surprise, Shifu actually seemed to…soften?

"Yes, Tigress, I am alive. As I've said. Thrice now," he said, in a slightly grumbling aside, but the tiger didn't take notice of it.

"That is… I mean, the Valley will be pleased," she sighed in relief, rising to her feet and bowing from that position as well. "Master. Tai Lung is gone, and the villagers are all safe. There was minimal damage to the town, and thankfully we– we didn't lose any lives."

"Well, that–" Shifu winced, sitting up a little straighter, "–is very good news. Especially considering we are in need of some lunch."

Po watched the female master blink. "Lunch, master?"

"Yes. The Dragon Warrior is clearly in no position to cook, and none of the rest of us know how. I'm also pretty sure Zeng has flown off, he tends to do that when danger approaches…" He winced again, pressing a hand to his chest. Tigress looked alarmed.

"Master, you're hurt!"

"It… is nothing, I will be fine. I just need to walk it–"

He never finished the sentence; the moment he tried to stand, his leg gave out from under him and he hit the floor again. Immediately the bickering among the other four stopped. "Master!" Tigress cried, dropping to her knees. Shifu didn't answer. In his defense, that was difficult to do while stone-cold unconscious.

"Master Shifu! Oh no, no, you can't die, right after you said you wouldn't die– what happened?!" Po demanded, turning to Tigress; her eyes snapped up to him in a panicked fury.

"What do you mean, what happened?! He just fought Tai Lung! He's hurt, he–" Her eyes flashed wide as an idea visibly crossed her face, and immediately she gathered Shifu up into her arms and raced out the doors of the hall and through the courtyard.

"Tigress!" Viper called, startled, but the tiger was already off the path, leaping over the bushes and short trees in her path. In a moment she had vanished. Po scrambled after her to the edge of a cliff not far from the steps.

"She jumped!"

"Oh yeah, she does that sometimes," Mantis said, dazed.

"What?!" But by this point Tigress had landed safely, flipping off a rooftop many feet below, and Po realized that her goal had not been suicide but rather speed. "Wh-where's she going?!"

"The village physician, I'm guessing. Come one!" Viper insisted, slithering back down the steps. Crane took flight in the direction Tigress had vanished while the others, restrained by their lack of wings (and eight extra lives) were reduced to descending the Thousand Steps in the ordinary way.

By the time they reached the village physician's house, huffing and wheezing, Tigress was pacing outside, agitated. She stopped when she saw them and strode over.

"The doctor says he'll survive," she stated flatly, with no preamble but plenty of jittery energy; her ears were flicking every which way and tail lashing erratically. "He apparently has a broken leg; standing on it is probalby what made him pass out."

"So he's alright," Viper said with relief, as much for her comarde's sake as her own. Tigress immediately calmed down a little at that.

"Yes—or so we think. We'll know more in an hour."

It was a very long hour, and the first time Po had interacted with the Five as an equal, though part of him still felt like an intruder on their anxiety. After all, they had all been Shifu's students for years, and he knew (of course he knew, how could as big a fan as him not know?) that Tigress had been in Shifu's tutelage since being adopted as a child. They all had their own nervous quirks, now on full display: Viper channelled her anxiety into mothering everyone, even when it wasn't helpful; Monkey and Mantis made dumb jokes that irritated everyone else; Tigress alternated between snapping at her comrades and trying to calm then down; and Crane alone seemed to handling things in a relatlively zen manner (though perhaps that was because he seemed to always be anxious anyway). In the end—long after a small crowd had gathered around the physician's house to gawk at the masters and the newly-minted Dragon Warrior—the physician emerged.

Po saw Tigress snap to attention and take the forefront. "Is he alright?" she demanded. "Does he need anything?"

The physician, a lemur, held up a hand. "Peace, Master Tigress. Master Shifu will be alright, after some rest." There were sighs of relief throughout the crowd, but Tigress's back was still ramrod straight, tension in every limb.

"Is there anything we can do?"

"You can leave my patient alone to get some rest, Master Tigress. In fact, he says he has a lot of meditating to do—apparently the Dragon Warrior helped him find something called 'inner peace?'"

"Huh, imagine that," Mantis commented from back with the group, but Tigress didn't reply. The physician shrugged.

"So long as he stays in bed I don't care one way or the other. I suggest you return to the palace; send Zeng down to me at nightfall and I'll send word back if anything's changed."

"Thank you," Tigress mumbled, bowing. The doctor inclined his head and retreated inside again.

The walk back up the stairs was filled with relieved chatter. "I didn't want to say anything, but I really was worried," Viper sighed, slithering up the ramp-link stones lining the steps.

"Yeah, Viper, we knew," Crane teased her, rolling his eyes. Viper stuck her tongue out at him with a hiss.

"Well, so long as he's laid up I say we take a break ourselves," Mantis suggested. "I mean, we did just get the stuffing kicked out of us by an angry snow leopard."

"Yeah and then I flew like, what, six hundred miles on my own?" Crane griped. "I think we've earned it."

"Please! Like Tigress is going to let us get away with that," Monkey laughed. "Right, Tigress?" The group as a whole turned to the feline, who seemed lost in thought, staring down at the steps as she climbed. After an expectant pause she looked over.

"Sorry, what?"

"Jeez, earth to the spirit realm. You doing okay there, Tigress?" Mantis said, frowning and hopping onto her shoulder. "Huh. The coloring in your eyes is kinda yellow, maybe you have jaundice–" He started to pull at her eyelid, and the feline batted him off, scowling.

"My eyes are always yellow, Mantis."

"Oh right."

"Tigress, honey? You okay?" Viper asked gently.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Po spoke up. "Because if you're worried about Master Shifu, it's totally–"

"I said I'm fine!" she stalked past them and then dropped to all fours, running the rest of the way up the mountain. The others were drawn to a halt.

"…Jeez," Po said at last. "So she's, like…kinda short tempered, huh."

"Actually, she's usually not like this," Crane admitted.

"What, really?"

"No," Viper said, worried. "She hardly ever gets this upset."

"I mean, she's always high-strung," Crane added. "But that's just, y'know, her being Tigress. She usually doesn't blow up like this."

Po gave them all a dubious look. "Really," he said again, this time more suspicious.

"Listen," Mantis said frankly, "you can't really take how she's treated you as the norm for her, y'know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Uh, you only stole the Dragon Warrior title from her? No offense."

"Oh. Right. I guess that could make anyone act a little…y'know." He made a swiping-claws motion with his hand.

"I don't think it's just that," Viper said sagely, to the others' surprise. Ahead of them, the orange-and-black striped spot vanished over the top of the steps.

"What do you mean?" Po said, confused.

"I don't know exactly. I just don't think that's all there is to it."

Nobody really had a reply to that, and the topic of conversation quickly shifted to Shifu and the fight with Tai Lung. The others were suitably impressed when Po explained how he had figured out the Wuxi Finger Hold ("I mean, I've read like, everything I can find on Master Wuxi; that guy was a legend!") and listened with laughter when he explained Shifu's training regimen ("What? Cookies speak to me, what can I say!"), but when they reached the top of the steps, Tigress was nowhere to be seen—though the door to her room in the barracks was shut and locked. Po paused to look at it on the way to the kitchen, hesitated, and then knocked on the door.

"Um, Tigress? I'm, uh, making lunch for everyone so… yeah, if you're hungry, there'll be food…"

No response. He wasn't even sure she was there. He turned back to the others, who had gathered in the doorway to the kitchen. They gave him a collective shrug and disappeared into the other room. Po sighed.

"Or, y'know, there'll be leftovers too if you like it cold… so yeah. Um. Bye." He winced, and then turned and walked back down the hall. Apparently she was still upset with him about the whole "Dragon Warrior" thing, and the others confirmed this with their sympathetic glances as he shut the kitchen door.

"...Hey, I mean, she's missing out," Po said at last, trying for a half-smile. "Especially since my dad's told me the secret ingredient to the secret ingredient noodle soup!"

"What?" Mantis gasped.

"No way!" Monkey moaned. "Oh man, we finally got a cook! My tongue has been surviving on bananas and tofu for years!"

Po laughed and began to get out the pots and pans, joining in as the others broke into conversation about the merits of tofu, but he gave a last glance at the door. Next time I get the chance, he resolved, I won't chicken out. If he was going to stay here, he and Master Tigress were gonna have to talk—one way or another.


As it happened, he didn't get a chance to speak to the tiger alone for another three days. Despite Mantis's joke, none of them wanted to risk the wrath of Shifu if he ever found out they'd slacked off during his convalescence, so training had resumed immediately; apparently when Shifu wans't around, Tigress was in charge of the training hall, but to Po's surprise she hadn't taken out any of her—well, whatever-emotion-she-was-obviously-suppressing on him during training, which was a good thing: practicing kung fu for seven hours a day was hard enough without a personal grudge in the mix.

But, even noble, glorious, bodacious warriors need a break every now and then—specifically, every seven days. On the last day of the week the masters got a day off to relax, recuperate from any wounds received during training, and (in Po's case) to visit the village market. Apparently nobody but Monkey ever stocked the kitchen cabinets, and flour, sugar and almonds were not going to cut it for a whole week of dinners.

"Agh," the panda sighed, sitting down at the top of the Thousand Steps with two bags in hand and a basket on his back. "That… has gotta… get easier… with time, right?" Maybe he could learn to do that "jumping off of cliffs with no fear of danger" thing that Tigress did. Maybe I could get Crane to help me with the landing… now that was an idea…

After a (substantial) break period, he picked up the bags again and started off towards the kitchen, intending to put the pantry items away and then take a long and well-deserved nap. When he reached the barracks, however, he realized that he wasn't alone: there were noises coming from the kitchen—noises that sounded like the clattering of pans and spoons and—

"Dammit!"

Angry shouting?

Po peeked his head in the door. Tigress, his apron tied over her red vest and black trousers, was desperately trying to stop a pot from boiling over, or at least mop up the overlfowing water. She grabbed a towel off the rack and tried to stop the spilling, only to swear again loudly as the hot water splashed her and jump back.

"Whoa, whoa!" Po dropped the bags and hurried forward; Tigress, startled, immediately jumped into a battle-stance, and the panda threw up his hands. "Calm down, it's just me!"

"Wh– Panda?" Her eyes flew wide. "Wh-what are you– I thought you were down in the Valley!"

"Yeah, I was at the market– hold on, let me fix this first!" He grabbed a wooden spoon off the counter and put it over the top of the pot, which popped the foaming bubbles and stopped the boil-over long enough for him to grab an old rag, make a makeshift potholder and get the pot off the hot stove. Master Tigress watched abashedly from behind him as Po wiped his forehead and turned around.

"A, uh, a spoon can stop the boil-over for a minute or two," he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Right. I'll remember that," she said, looking as awkward as he felt. For a moment, there was silence—and then the smell hit him, and he turned back to the pot, surprised.

"Whoa; that's a lot of ginger!" He sniffed the air and added: "And not enough garlic." When he looked back the tiger was pinching the bridge of her nose, looking humiliated—an unusual expression on her, or at least one he wasn't used to. "What were you trying to make, anyway?" She mumbled something he didn't catch. "What was that?"

"Soup, alright! I was trying to make soup." She seemed to immediately regret her outburst and sighed. Po blinked, surprised.

"What– for Master Shifu? You coulda just asked me, it's fine. I was gonna make him some anyway."

"No, not for…not for Master Shifu." She sighed again and lowered her hand, reluctantly meeting his eyes. "It…was for you. As an apology."

His eyes widened. An apology. "Oh. Uh, listen, Master Tigress–"

But before he could finish his sentence, she was bowing to him, very low, and with fist-in-paw. "Master Panda—first, I am sorry I did not do this sooner. A more honorable warrior would have apologized immediately for the inexcusable behavior I showed you during your first few days here."

"Whoa, wait, Master Tigress–"

"The soup was an apology and a thank-you." He saw her grimace, but she forced the words out anyway in a rush: "Despite my reservations, you have brought my master peace. You did what I could never do, and for that, I am permanently in your debt."

Despite what he was sure were her best efforts, the bitterness still slipped through into her tone. Then, there was silence. Po stared at her, stunned; the master—his hero—remained in her bow, apparently not willing to rise until he gave her permission.

"Uh– Master Tigress, um, s'fine–"

"It is not fine. I acted disgracefully. You are right to be angry."

"Um, o-okay, well, I'm not angry, at least not anymore." A pause. "You can stand up now?"

She hesitated, and then did so, still not meeting his eyes. She gestured futilely to the stovetop. "And I'm sorry about the soup. Apparently it is… not as easy as it looks."

To her apparent surprise, Po chuckled. "Uh, no, it's not. But it's fine!" He waved his hand. "You don't know how many times I messed it up when I was younger, seriously. It just takes practice—same as kung fu, you know? You're not gonna be good at it right away!"

"I… suppose that makes sense." She paused, frowning. "Except that you did become very good at kung fu, very quickly…"

"Oh, uh, yeah, well," Po said sheepishly. "I've kinda been…like, a huge fan, for a really long time? I-I tried to learn on my own for a long time, s-so it's not like I came in cold, is what I mean. 'Course nothing can compare to having a real teacher like Master Shifu!"

"Do not insult yourself. Only the true Dragon Warrior could have done what you did; Shifu needed your help far more than you needed his."

That bitterness again. Po studied her, frowning a bit, and then abruptly turned back to the stove. "I guess so. Anyway, if we're gonna get this done in time to bring it down, you should start slicing carrots."

Tigress blinked, startled. "Dragon Warrior?"

"Carrots. Slice 'em. Y'know, into little circles?" He glanced over his shoulder at her as he grabbed the handles of the pot of gingery broth. "I know you said this was for me, but I can't eat it all by myself, and besides, I think Shifu would like some."

"Oh. Yes, I'm sure he'll enjoy it; the others spoke well of your cooking."

Something about the look on her face as she said this confirmed his suspicions. "Knives are next to the stove," he said lightly, hefting up the pot. He carried it to the back door and nudged it open with his toes. Tigress watched him vanish outside, and then looked at the knives, and then looked back at the door.

By the time Po had dumped the broth and returned with the empty pot, Tigress had successfully sliced up three carrots. "That's probably enough," Po commented, glancing over as he pumped water into the pipes and filled the pot. "Garlic next."

"Right…" She looked around, a little blindly.

"Pantry."

"Right," she said again, embarrassed, and went to get the bulbs. In this way, speaking mainly through one-word sentences about different food items, they spent the next hour making what Po knew would turn out to be a delicious soup. When at last the broth was simmering away, he turned to her.

"Close your eyes."

"Sorry?"

"It's the secret ingredient, Master Tigress, I can't just give it away! My dad would kill me!"

"Oh! Sorry." She immediately squeezed her eyes shut like a five-year-old playing hide-n'-seek, which if he were being totally honest was downright adorable from the hardcore kung fu master. Po grinned, grabbed a spice jar out of the pantry, and made a big deal of opening and shutting it without adding any. He returned the jar to the pantry.

"You can open your eyes." He added the fresh-made noodles into the broth. "And now we just let them cook for a few minutes."

He watched her sit down warily at the table, still eyeing him as if unsure what he was about to do. Po gave her a friendly grin, occasionally stirring the soup. Tigress did not return it. When the noodles were ready he ladled up two bowls and set one in front of her. "Taste test before we bring it down?"

Tigress gave him a wary look, and then picked up her chopsticks and looked down at the faintly yellowy broth. "What turned it yellow? Was it saffron?" She raised an eyebrow. "Or the carrots?"

"Tell you what; you taste it, and if it's good, I'll tell you the secret ingredient since you helped." He pointed at her. "But you can't tell anyone. Cook's honor!"

Apparently despite herself, her mouth twitched. "Cook's honor." She raised an eyebrow down at the soup, and then lowered her chopsticks. Po watched as she tasted the noodles cautiously, and then sat up straighter in surprise, straing at the soup. When she looked up, the panda was grinning. "This is… delicious," she admitted; he beamed, and she tilted her head. "You said there was a secret ingredient."

"We'll get to that," he said cheerfully. "Just eat." Tigress eyed him curiously, and then took another helping of noodles. Then another. Po could see that she was reulctantly, but swiftly, becoming engrossed in the meal. Smiling to himself, he reached into the bag he'd down to the market and set something down on the table. "Here."

Tigress glanced up again and stopped, noodles halfway to her mouth. The Dragon Scroll glittered on the table in front of her, the enamel glaze and gilt catching the afternoon light through the kitchen window.

"That's–" She swallowed quickly and wiped her mouth, embarrassed at being caught doing something so impolite as talking with a mouthful of noodles, and Po chuckled. "–That's the–"

"Dragon Scroll. Yup." He nodded. "Go on, read it."

She looked down at it, mouth agape, and then up at him. "But– I couldn't, it wouldn't be– only the Dragon Warrior is– besides, I already know what it says," she fumbled. "It's blank."

"Read it," Po encouraged her. "You might see more than you think."

Tigress frowned at him suspiciously, and then down at the scroll. She set the soup bowl down, hesitated—and then quickly reached out and uncorked the cap before she could stop herself. Within a blink the scroll was unfurled in her hands. The tiger stared down at her own face in the gleaming burnished silk, frowning.

"...Panda, I don't know what you expect me to read here. I'm not the Dragon Warrior, I can't see what you see," she said bluntly. "All I see is my own reflection."

"Yup." She looked up, surprised, and saw him still with that same confident smile. At her frown, he added: "It's okay, I didn't get it right away. I don't think Master Shifu did, either—and I know Tai Lung didn't."

Tigress's eyes bugged. "Tai Lung saw the scroll?!"

"Yeah. I explained it to him, too; wanted to give the guy a fair chance, y'know? But he wasn't interested." Po shrugged. "Guess you can't win 'em all, right?"

"I don't understand, what does this have to do with Master Shifu?"

"By the time I figured out the scroll and got up to the palace, Tai Lung had pretty much beat the snot out of Master Shifu," Po said conversationally, reaching for his own chopsticks and ignoring Tigress's flat look at the phrase "beat the snot out of." "I don't really know what went down. But whatever happened between them, that was what helped Master Shifu find his 'inner peace' or whatever, not me."

"But Master Shifu said it was you who helped him," Tigress insisted. "You proved yourself the Dragon Warrior and defeated Tai Lung; you put an end to his pain."

"I mean, maybe training me helped a little? Like it proved to him it was never supposed to be Tai Lung?" The panda scratched his head and then shook it off. "But yeah, I think it was mostly actually confronting him himself, you know? Maybe he, I dunno, realized he couldn't change the past and had to be okay with that. That it was on Tai Lung to make the right choice now."

"And the Dragon Scroll?" she asked, arching a brow.

"You know what the secret ingredient in that soup is, Tigress?" She raised the other brow as well, and Po shrugged. "Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. It's the same old soup. Crazy, right? I could've sworn the 'secret ingredient' variety tasted better, but it's the exact same as I make!"

"I don't follow."

"Tigress, what if Oogway was right? What if there really are no accidents?" She blinked at him, and he continued: "Look, I don't know why the universe chose a noodle-making panda for the Dragon Warrior, but that scroll didn't give me any mystic power or magic abilities or anything. And it wouldn't have given you any, either." He met her gaze and said firmly but kindly: "You couldn't bring Shifu peace because that wasn't your job, and it wasn't mine either. It was something he had to find for himself. And Oogway choosing you instead wouldn't have changed that. Being the Dragon Warrior wasn't a secret ingredient. All you can be, is you."

Tigress stared at him. For a moment, he worried he'd overstepped, and broken the fragile truce they'd established over the last hour. Then, to his surprise, he realized that actual, literal tears were gathering along the lower lids of her eyes.

Tigress realized it at the same moment he did, abruptly looking away and rubbing a swift paw across her eyes. Po blanched. "Sorry!" he exclaimed. "Sorry, too heavy–"

"No. No, it was…" she seemed to struggle for a moment, looking a little disoriented. "It was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you." She paused, and then abruptly stood up. "Excuse me, Dragon Warrior, I have to go–"

"But what about the soup–?"

"You bring it. It's fine." She looked ready to flee the kitchen, and Po stood up, trying to stop her:

"Master Tigress–"

"It's fine," she insisted, "I'm fine."

"It's okay," he insisted. At last, she looked over at him again, tears clearly visible on her fur. He gave her an awkward smile. "Seriously. I won't tell anyone."

She stared at him, and then managed a tiny wry smile, mopping her eyes. "Cook's honor?"

"Cook's honor." He nodded back to the pot of noodles. "Why don't we bring it down together."

"No, you made it; you should bring it to him."

"We made it together." At her hesitation, he added: "Besides, I think he'd appreciate it more, coming from you."

"...You really think so."

"I know so."

"...Well." The wry smile grew a little stronger, and she inclined her head. "If you're sure."

Together they finished eating, and then bundled up a clay pot of soup and tied it up in kerchiefs for carrying. Then they made their way outside into the warming sun of the early evening. The others weren't back yet, and both were grateful—whatever had just happened in that kitchen, neither wanted to share it, or even talk about it again, at least not for a very long time.

Although, Po had to admit he couldn't resist getting one dig in—for revenge, maybe. "Who knew the hardcore Master Tigress could cry?"

"You tell anyone, and I'll drop you off the mountain."

But she was smiling at him, and from that moment on, Po knew they were going to be okay.