More than a Dragon Warrior

[Tai Lung's POV]

I opened my eyes and looked down at the shameless girl who was curled up on my lap while I was meditating and trying to find out the secret to turning my body into lightning.

Her eyes were closed and she rubbed her soft cheeks on my fur. She was also rubbing two softer things on me while her tail wagged left and right.

"Mei?" I called but she did not respond.

I stared at her for a few seconds before I realized what was going on, it happened to Tigress as well. I reeled in my chi which was spreading in the surroundings and put a lid on it.

"Hmh~?" Mei opened her eyes when she felt the soothing sensation suddenly disappear.

She looked up and blinked twice before she realised what she was doing. She immediately pushed herself off my body with shy red dusting her cheeks.

"What were you doing?" I asked.

"I-I was...I was going to call you for dinner." She said, "It's ready."

I shook my head with a smile before I stretched my body like the feline I was. Then I followed Mei inside where a warm meal was waiting for me.

I had taught her how to cook the past few days and she learned well because she was enthusiastic to do so. She said it always bothered her that I was cooking even though she was the one who should serve me.

I sat down at the table and tried the food. Mei watched with rapt attention while I put the fish dumping in my mouth.

I blinked, "Not bad."

It was fucking delicious. I was almost certain the food had a touch of miracle to it, just like I taught her to do.

Mei threw her hands up, victorious, and a smile adorned her face. I chuckled seeing her get so happy from such small praises. It reminded me of when I was young, I would do anything to get praise from Shifu.

They meant everything because he was everything to me.

"I really like how you used the fish broth to steam the buns." I said and she nodded, seemingly making a note in her head to do it again.

"Now that the pressure is out of the way, lets dig in!" She said and we ate our food together.

...

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[3rd POV]

Things escalated so quickly.

Were feelings always this quick to grow and mature?

How was it that someone could go from a stranger you were meant to kill, to the most important person in your life?

What did he do to her?

...or what had she done to herself.

"Thank you for the food, it was pleasant." He said after he finished eating. She couldn't help but smile when he did so. It was a reward better than what the Emperor could ever promise for her hard work.

And how do you even get to that point?

She had been used all of her and she hated it. Now she was doing everything she could to be useful.

He got up from his seat and then he made a beeline to the yard. She watched him go to his favourite spot which had a tree where he could lean on.

He was a training freak and there seemed to be something that particularly pissed him off these days so he was training even harder. One thing she realized about him was that he hated being shown or told he could not do it.

In this case, something seemed to be telling him that. It was probably logic or the laws of the universe itself, she chuckled at the thought.

She watched him from a distance, her heart straining as she did so. There was a reason why she liked it when he meditate, it was because she could stare as much as she wanted and not look like a creep.

Although watching him train his body and seeing his beautiful sculpted muscles work, sometimes she just wanted to stare at him.

All of these must sound strange and embarrassing, like the diary of a teenage girl in love. But that would perfectly sum up her situation.

It's silly.

But he was everything she ever wanted. He was everything she needed.

And people tend to love what they want and what they need. He was both to her.

He was someone who accepted her for who she was. He didn't judge her for what she was, and he was the only person in her life who showed her an ounce of kindness. He did not see her as a tool or a slave.

And she loved him for that, she realized later on.

But then they found out he was also a demi-human like her. Finally, in her world of loneliness, there was someone like her.

People who had not experienced being the only one of their kind would never understand the feeling. The feeling of being unalone in a world, the sense of companionship that instantly bloomed because of it.

She belonged there, with him.

He was a home.

A place where she was not a stranger or foreigner because she was tired of feeling that way. Beside him was the warmth of kinship, where she could just be herself and be unapologetic.

If people saw her beside him, they could go 'Oh, that makes sense, That is where she should be, beside her own kind.'

No longer would they talk about how she did not belong in the castle, how she did not belong with them because she was right where she belonged.

Wolves had packs, lions had pride, gorillas had troops, cows had heard and humans had home.

She had found her own place in the world.

So the kind of love she had for Tai Lung was quite different from how it started out and how it should be. She loved him for being the kind of person he is but she also loved him for what he is.

She was in love with the very idea of his existence.

So fuck. Excuse her if she sounded too overbearing.

....

"Will you let me stay with you forever?"

"Huh? What's with the question?" He asked, surprise laced his deep voice. "That sounds like a marriage proposal." he chuckled.

She never loved before, and she never even imagined loving this much.

"No, it doesn't have to be a marriage." She said, "Let me stay with you even just as a servant. I promise I will be useful."

That's why she was also training so tirelessly, and why she gave her everything to learn what he wanted her to learn. To be useful to the strongest in the world was not easy but she would do it.

It must be hilarious to someone who knew her. Oh, how quickly her desire and goal changed. A month ago she hated being used and wanted freedom from any control.

She was such a brittle woman.

But this time...

This time she would stand firm.

He stayed silent and gazed into her eyes. it felt like he could see right through her and every vulnerable layer she had.

"Well, you will have to prove yourself if you always want to stay by my side." He said. "If you can do that, sure."

Enemies far beyond what she could imagine and disasters the gavest the universe could muster were heading his way.

She would have to work even harder and be more than what she ever was if she wanted to stay beside him and bear all those challenges.

But she will do it.

If there was anything she learned from him, it was resolve and endless determination.

"It's a promise." She said.

He chuckled, "I guess it is."

..

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[I put effort into finding and posting these images. I hope you guys at least respect my effort and view them]

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