The Gaki

By: Your Humble Narrator

Disclaimer:

I do not claim ownership of the TMNT, associated comic book/television/movie characters, situations, or ideas.

I claim only the original characters:

Hope Guthrie
December Gotter
Ruby McCoun
Kate Poverelli

…and any associated original characters therein. No monetary exchange has or will take place for this story, in whole or in part.

Prologue

New York City, Six Years Ago

It's good to run.

July in New York can be oppressive. Heat and humidity make the air charged, but no rain falls. Everyone looks skyward, wishing for relief, and none comes.

In the sewer, it's even worse.

Leonardo runs. He hears his brothers behind him, fast, in formation, and knows they love the speed and endurance as well. The heat, the need for relief, is too great. Splinter gives the boys permission, and they run.

Across the rooftops that are their roadways, from building to building, they run, leap; they practically fly, from their home to Central Park.

Thunder shakes the air around them. Leo pauses, looks up.

Raph beside him now. Donnie behind, Mike next to Don. They all look heavenward.

Clouds thicken. Another peal of thunder, the first bolt of lightning.

"God, I hope it rains," Raph whispers. "I'm gettin' sick of the heat."

"I know," Leo agrees with him. "Let's go."

Back on their feet, they run, briefly illuminated in another bolt of lightning, and then the first few drops hit them.

They start slow, a drizzle. The boys dart between the raindrops, laughing, making a game of it, as they hit the trees and clamber up into them.

From their vantage point, they watch as a sheet of rain forms at the edge of the park opposite them. It advances fast, like a curtain, and in a moment they're drenched in the downpour.

Cold rain chills the night air. "Split up," Leo tells his brothers over the roar. "Raph and I will head west, you two head east."

A crack of thunder deafens them.

"Do we get bonus points if we get struck by lightning, Fearless Leader?" Mike asks. He bounces from foot to foot as he tries to maintain his balance in the awkward branches. The smile on his face lights up their hiding spot as brightly as the lighting does.

Leo smiles back. When Mikey smiles, you can't help it. "Try to avoid that if possible. We'll meet back here in an hour."

Donnie shrugs and Mikey mock-salutes him, both happy to be out in the rain again. They take off. Leo watches them go.

"So, do we get bonus points if we get 'lectrocuted?" Raph asks. April would say his dander is up. Thunderstorms do that to him. Too much energy in the air. Right now, there's so much, even Leo feels edgy.

Leo grins at his brother. "No."

"Well, damn, there go my goals for the night."

"Come on." Leo dares to give in to his impulse, just this once. He's fifteen, he's young, and he hasn't learned the rock-solid control he yearns for yet. "Let's see if we can find some heads to bust!"

"Now yer talkin'!" Raph thumps his shoulder once and slips from the tree branches, landing solidly on his feet before taking off at a run. Leo is on his heels, a half-second behind. They do not fear being caught. Darkness is their companion, the night their friend, the curtains of rain their cloak.

Leo tags his brother, smacking his arm once, lightly. "You can't move any faster than that?" He doubles his speed, racing on ahead, and Raph laughingly gives chase.

The park is their playground. Serious business, patrolling the park, but not tonight. Tonight, it's the rain. Thunder cracks, Raph smacks his shell, and Leo turns and blocks his brother's hand. An invitation to spar, like a cat sidling up sideways and inviting a mouse to play.

Only Raphael is no mouse. They meet, hand to hand. No need for live steel tonight. Raph catches him, flips his brother over, landing him shell-down in the mud. Leo kicks out to trip his sib, dragging him down as well. Sparring degenerates into a wrestling match that ends with Leo hooting his victory and running away before his brother tries taking a piece of his shell out for it.

Despite their match, both are on edge, still crackling with as much energy as the bolt of lightning that turns the sky brilliant white for a moment. In that flash, Leo sees her, and stops running.

He doesn't know if he's been seen as well, but better not take the chance. Raph's hand on his shoulder. He reaches out and presses his palm to his brother's plastron, then scrambles up the nearest tree. His brother follows suit.

They sit, watching the ground below. She is not a ninja, so it's not surprising that they can see her, despite the darkness.

She is short, thin, and un-developed. Probably twelve years old. Her hair is dark and plastered to her scalp, running down the middle of her back. The skirts she wears, heavy with water, come to her ankles, and the blue long-sleeved blouse looks uncomfortably drenched. She walks slowly, gracefully. Leo follows her with his eyes.

"Who the hell wears a turtleneck in the middle of July?" he hears Raph ask.

Anything else Raph might have said is lost. Leo watches her walk so perfectly, with poise and grace and a silence that is like the air just before lightning spears it – fraught. His breathing speeds. "She's beautiful."

"You're a nut, yanno that?"

"Look at her, Raph! She's lovely."

"Bro, she's walkin' around in the rain inna skirt an' turtleneck. In July! Get a grip, Leo!"

Leo doesn't. He watches her walk.

"Hey. Take a picture. It'll last longer." He ignores his brother, wishing Raph would just go away. "Come on, Fearless. We got work ta do."

"Raph?"

"What?"

"Have you ever been in love?"

"What?!"

"Have you?"

Raphael's silence is also fraught. Leo waits. The air, the tension, the need for lightning to strike… "Apirl."

"I know. She's beautiful, too."

"She got Casey. An' she's a lot older 'en me."

"When did you know you loved her?"

The sky is black canvas. Leo looks away from the girl in black and gazes up, imagining Raphael's thoughts. "We cut through the park, 'member? The cops chasin' us? She's cryin', 'cause we don' know what's goin' on, why they're after us, an' she's scared she's hurt someone drivin' like that. I think… maybe… I loved her 'fore that, but that's when I knew it."

"Because you really saw exactly who she was then."

"Right. 'Xactly."

Leo nods slowly. He looks at the girl walking, and knows exactly who she is. "Raph?"

"Yeah?"

"She'd have been better off with you." He looks to his brother, and meets his troubled eyes.

Raph looks uneasy, and then angry. "Whatever. Let's go." He doesn't wait for Leo. The fun has gone out of their run. Leo tenses, wishing again that Raph would fight this anger more, instead of giving in to it all the time. He wishes that April had seen his brother, instead of looking past him and seeing only Casey Jones. He wishes the rain would never end. And he wishes, while he's at it, that the girl in black would call out to him and say hello. He'd answer, even though he shouldn't. But he's the good son, and she doesn't see them. The fun is gone, but the rain hasn't ended.

Jumping from the tree, Leo tackles his brother into the mud again, then bolts away, laughing. Raph yells and gives chase, and things are good again, for a while.

Maybe he can't have every wish granted, but life goes on anyway, and it's a good life.