(AN: I do not own any of the canon TMNT characters. Also, ojisan is the honorific for uncle in Japanese. Senpai is the honorific for upperclassmen in reference to school. It can also be used in reference to work, but none of these kids have jobs. *shrug*)
The Red Gate
Another Hamato Clan meeting. Aphrodite hated those meetings, especially lately since most of them were about her. She wasn't supposed to know that, but the young reptilian mutant had a great source of information. Her sister-cousin, Gidget, had pretty much mastered the art of stealth and had become very skilled at eavesdropping on the meetings the grown-ups had.
Donatello's daughter was already pretty nervous, and the anticipation of Gidget's report was rattling her nerves even more. She slumped down next to and old elm tree and picked at some blades of grass. She twirled a long blade between her fingers, sniffed it, glanced around, then nibbled it.
"That's just gross, Lovie."
She spit the grass out of her mouth and jumped straight to her feet as another female of her kind landed softly in front of her. Gidget stood from her crouching position with her typical arrogant smirk. Aphrodite noticed a large branch swaying above her head.
"How long were you up there?" the irritated female grumbled as she patted the dirt from the back of her olive-green thighs.
"Long enough to add to the list of your weirdness," came the yellow clad turtle's response. "Speaking of your weirdness, it came up in the meeting again today, girl." Aphrodite sighed heavily as she slumped against the tree trunk. She saw Gidget fold her arms out of the corner of her eye and fought the urge to slap that smirk off her face. "You got to get it together if you want to master your stealth training, Dites. If you don't catch up with the rest of us you'll be a genin forever. And that would totally suck ass, you know."
"Why don't you worry about your weapons training? We all know you suck at that!" Lovie snapped as she narrowed her bi-colored eyes at her informant.
"Hey, hey, hey now! This isn't about me, babe! And don't get mad at me, I'm just the messenger. Besides, we all need to improve with our weapons. Evenmy Toki-kun, with his smexy self..." She mumbled that last part mostly to herself.
"Look, Gidge, I didn't wait here to listen to your sick fantasies..."
"They are not sick! They are beautiful and romantic." She fluttered her eyes with dramatic flare.
"Whatever. By the way, it's Tokio-senpai to you. Show some respect. Anyway, what exactly did they say about me in the meeting?" When her sister-cousin started shaking her head and sucking her teeth Aphrodite knew it wasn't a good sign.
"Lovie, Lovie, Lovie...I'm afraid it's bad news. If you don't shape up with the stealth training you're going to get special one-on-one training with...Leo-ojisan!"
Aphrodite's expression went instantly from irritation to terror. All the kids knew that one-on-one training with Leo could be epically brutal. He never yelled at them though. He didn't need to. His steely reserve and intense work ethic were scary enough without any yelling.
The young mutant was filled with such despair because of the news she feared she would burst into tears. She got enough teasing from Gidget so she didn't want her adding cry-baby to her list of weirdness. She had to think of something to avoid that one-on-one training somehow, and she knew crying wasn't the answer.
"Gidge...what do you think I should do?" she quietly inquired, her soft voice dripping with meekness.
"I already told you before! Suck it up, get down in those scary tunnels, and complete your stealth training! Everybody else had to do it, so you might as well get it over with! Now stop being such a baby and quit holding us back!"
Aphrodite glared at Gidget, who volleyed the glare right back. The young genin knew her loudmouthed, arrogant counterpart couldn't possible understand what she was going through. She wasn't afraid of the tunnels. She wasn't even really afraid of the dark, per se. It was the things she saw with that cursed amber eye of hers that gripped her heart with fear. Her stomach clenched like a balled up fist at the very thought of what she saw the last time she stepped into the inky black shadows of the underground tunnels. It was as if the shadows had taken on a life of their own. And she would never forget those otherworldly eyes staring right into hers. Those eyes had sent her running and screaming out of those tunnels, causing her to fail her task completely.
"Why must I be such a loser?" she inquired of no one in particular as she headed back to the farmhouse. Gidget just shook her head and rolled her eyes and she followed her lavender clad sister-cousin home.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Hamato youngsters were having some leisure time in the family room. Tokio and Veronica were sitting on the couch while Ronnie played Heavenly Sword. Milan was reading a gardening magazine while Rowan stood over him while bouncing a rubber ball off this green dome. After the fifteenth ball bounce Milan reached up without looking, caught the ball in mid-air, then beaned Rowan in the eye with it in one fluid move. Rowan wobbled over to the sofa clutching his right eye, cursing under his breath as as Aphrodite and Gidget strolled into the room.
"Hey, peeps! What's up?" Gidget cheerfully greeted as she flopped down on the couch between Veronica and Tokio. Ronnie elbowed Gidget in the side before turning her attention back to the game. Gidget considered slapping the controller out of her sister-cousin's hands but decided to focus on Tokio. She turned to her right to start up a conversation only to see a grinning, dark-green face in Toki's place.
"Rowdy, what are you doing?" she asked in an irritated growl. Rowan didn't bother to answer her. He just snatched her mask off of her head. He quickly did the same to Aphrodite.
"You two forgot it was my turn to do laundry again, huh? I've been waiting for hours for you two to get back so I could get started." Gidget lowered her fist when she realized that Rowan was right. Then the rowdy nine-year-old mutant snapped her mask hard against her thigh. The chase was on. Rowan knew a beat down was coming but at least he got Gidget away from Tokio, even for just a little while.
By now Aphrodite had sat down next to Milan on the floor looking crestfallen. The serene youngster peeked over his magazine at his lovely companion feeling a bit sorry for her. He nudged her with his shoulder causing her to look up. When their eyes met Dites couldn't help but smile just the tiniest bit.
"What's wrong, Lovie?" She shrugged as she darted her eyes the other way. That didn't deter the young sage in training. "Hey, you wanna read this month's issue of Banzai Botanicals? Their pruning tips are off the chain." When he heard her soft giggle he knew he was making progress. He was determined to get her to open up to him. He tilted the magazine so they could share. Lovie pretended to be interested in the article until she felt Milan's eyes on her. She could tell that he was concerned about her and wanted to cheer her up, however she knew she was in no mood to talk. Besides, she was too busy enjoying the closeness and comfort of the moment.
The children's leisure time was short lived once the adults ended their meeting. When they saw Raphael dressed in a straw hat, cotton yukata, and a pair of brown hakama they knew it was time to go back out to work the fields. They groaned as their mother passed them their farming garments. Aphrodite noticed that she was excluded for some reason. As Raph gruffly corralled the rest of the complaining turtle offspring outside, Venus took her second oldest daughter to the side. Lovie felt a lump in her throat when she saw her father and Leonardo waiting just outside the family room looking quite grim. Venus draped an arm around her child's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Let's go down to the dojo and talk." The shinobi mystic felt the child flinch at her words.
"Am I in trouble, Mami?"
"No, Lovie, so just relax."
Her mother had asked her to do the impossible. She was far from relaxed as she sat in the seiza position before her parents and uncle. As Leonardo looked over the nervous ten-year-old he could clearly pick up on her fear. As a ninja he knew she had to learn to get control over her emotions in order to be effective in battle. Seeing that the child was a total wreck he knew she had a long way to go.
Donatello assessed his daughter's mood with much concern. He appreciated Aphrodite's creativity and imagination to a certain point. But her fear or the dark was hindering her training to a point that it was almost at a standstill. He knew she had to get a grip on reality and face her fears.
"Aphrodite." The girl mutant snapped to attention at the sound of her uncle's voice.
"Hai, sensei?"
"Do you know why you're here?" She gave a halfhearted shrug and lowered her eyes in shame.
"Is that a 'yes' or a 'no', Aphrodite?" She nodded, her head bobbing like a limp noodle. She didn't dare look up because she could feel the sting of tears. "Listen, you've fallen way behind in your training. I have to commend you for your great progress in your weapons and agility training. But as we all know your stealth training is lacking very much." She visibly winced at his emphasis. "Now if you explain what's holding you back perhaps you can finally move forward in your training."
Aphrodite swallowed hard as she tried to control her emotions. Her frustration with her own limitations and the others' lack of understanding was stifling. After a moment she cleared her throat and spoke, her voice quivering with stress.
"I...apologize for my...uhh... immature behavior. I'm to old to be afraid of the dark, so I promise that next time I go down the tunnels I will finish the course." She clenched her fists in anger at herself for lying about being afraid of the dark. It made her look like a scared little five-year-old who needs to sleep with a teddy bear. At the same time she was afraid of telling them about freaky things her left eye would reveal to her in that darkness. She knew that they would say it was all in her mind. She was suddenly distracted from her thoughts by a gentle hand lifting her chin. The sight of her father's smiling face helped her relax.
"Don't worry, sweetie. I know you can do it. Just remember that we're here to make sure no harm comes to you in the tunnels. All you need to worry about is moving in silence and achieving your goal."
"I know, Daddy. Thanks for believing in me." She rubbed an arm across her face, wiping away her tears of relief as her father planted a kiss on her forehead.
"I believe in you, too, Lovie," Leo stated as he stood up, his features softened by his niece's apology and promise. "That's why you'll be getting a chance to prove yourself tomorrow." Hearing that Aphrodite did her best to hide her apprehension. "But for now I need you to gear up so you can join the others in the fields. The hard work will help you focus."
"Hai, sensei."
After bowing respectfully to the three honored clan elders, she put on her farming gear and headed to the strawberry fields. As Don went to do some maintenance on the irrigation system, Venus and Leo stayed behind for a moment as they observed Aphrodite running to catch up with the others.
"There's something she's not telling us, Leo."
"I know. Hopefully she won't keep it from us much longer."
"You think she saw something in the tunnels?"
"Most definitely. I just don't know what."
"Hmm...it might have something to do with that strange chi I picked up on down there."
"That's possible. We'll just have to stay on our toes until we get to the bottom of that mystery."
The mother of six simply nodded as she put on a straw hat as she and Leo walked side by side through the lush grass. When the pair made it over the crest of the hill they were greeted by the sight of Michelangelo waving his hat, beckoning them to join the others in harvesting strawberries beneath the beaming summer sun.
"From the looks of this harvest we'll be enjoying Mikey's famous strawberry shortcake tonight."
Venus smiled at her mate's observation knowing full well that would lift her daughter's mood as well as everybody else's.
Next Chapter: Aphrodite finally opens up to someone about her terrifying visions. She also get one more chance to redeem herself in the underground tunnels, but it won't be easy.
AN: yukata- a simple garment similar to a kimono but made of cheaper fabric, like cotton. Usually worn by themselves at hot springs or public baths, sometimes underneath kimonos to protect the silk from body oils and sweat.
hakama- wide legged slacks worn over the yukata.