Because of Love [Leonardo of TMNT [Short Story
Note: This is a random thing I had in my head that just wouldn't get out until I typed it and published it. I'm not a huge TMNT fan, but I am a fan (somewhat). Anyway, I hope anyone who reads this will enjoy it. (Sorry if the Turtles are a little OOC.)
If love hadn't brought us together, would we be content now? Would we'd be better off if we hadn't met on that day? Questions like these are useless to ask. But I wonder anyway.
Dear Person-Who-Watches-Me, The letter started out. Leonardo read on.I know you've been watching me. His heart skipped a beat. I don't know who you are. I don't know if you're a killer or some sort of protector. He calmed down. But I would like to meet you anyway. His heartbeat was racing.
What was he supposed to do now? The girl found out that he was watching her. And worst, she wanted to meet him. Actually, that was a good thing. But what if she saw him and screamed? What if she ran away to never return at their spot again?
Well, actually it wasn't their spot. He just liked to think of it that way. It was more like a cliff on the outskirts of the city. It was turned away from the city to loom over the countryside with all its grass and trees and mountains.
It faced the sunrise and turned from the sunset. She loved the sunrise and watching the sky darken. It was beautiful. If he hadn't followed her on that day, Leo would've never known.
We didn't really meet. Our paths just crossed on that day on that street.
Leonardo had woken up early and left the lair. Usually it was forbidden to leave the lair without a disguise, without telling anyone, or in the daylight. But it was far too early for any human to be up and running. The only humans up at this hour would be workaholics. And there weren't many of them.
He didn't know why he had woken up before dawn, and why he had the sudden urge to go out into the city. But he gave in to them anyway. He figured that a little fresh air would make the urges go away.
But they didn't. The urges stayed and turned into annoyance. After not feeling satisfied, Leo decided to return to the lair before anyone saw him.
He was just about to turn when he saw an unusual sight.
A teenage brunette was running barefoot toward the rising sun. He had no idea why she was running, but she was running very fast. It was as if she was chasing something or she was hurrying to meet someone. He didn't know.
And that's why he followed her.
Quietly, he ran on the rooftops of the buildings beside her. He was careful to stop when she stopped and hide beyond her eyesight.
They reached the outskirts of town.
She kept running.
He kept following her, making sure that his footsteps were unnoticeable. If they were, the girl didn't notice. Or maybe she was pretending to not notice. He wasn't sure.
Finally, she stopped. And so did he, just a few feet behind her. She didn't seem to notice his presence at all. In fact, she barely realized that he was there with her. She seemed immersed in whatever she was looking at.
Leonardo looked beyond the girl, and into the sunlight that was just peeking out of the mountaintops. He had heard that sunrises were beautiful, and he never really gave it any thought. As far as he was concerned, the sun rose to tell him to get out of bed and the sun went down to tell him to go to bed. Simple as that.
But who would ever think that simple could be so beautiful?
Not Leonardo. Not ever.
The sight was breathtaking, even for someone who didn't recognize beauty or art when it was staring them straight in the face.
"Ah!" the girl sighed happily, taking a deep breath to take the scent of the morning air. "It's beautiful, as always."
Leonardo said nothing in response.
After a few moments of bathing in the morning glow, the girl turned around, ready to head back to NYC.
The moment she turned around, Leonardo jumped into a tree.
"Umm...I thought I saw something for a moment there." The girl looked around, just watching and waiting. "Guess it was my imagination."
And she began to run back to NYC.
With Leonardo tailing her closely.
When our first meeting ended, I felt content. It was such a great feeling. I wanted it to last forever with you.
And that was the story of how they met. Or rather, how Leonardo met her.
Ever since that day when Leonardo first saw her and followed her, he continued following her to the cliff to watch the sunrise. He also found out that she ran to the cliff everyday during the evening to watch the sky turn dark. So he started to get out of the lair earlier to catch her. How did he find out? Well, she talked to herself quiet often. Leonardo just had to listen closely.
He found out that she was living with her parents, who allowed her to go to the cliff by herself everyday. They trusted her enough to let her make her own decisions. If she wanted to see the sunrise, she could. She had an older brother who was away at college in New Hampshire. She went to NYC High. Her birthday was on the third of June. She loved the colors blue and red. And so on.
Leonardo continued to listen to her babble on about her problems, life, and thoughts. He stayed silent, never speaking and never being noticeable. He would just sit on a tree branch and listen. That was simply it. Listen and watch.
He was sure that she would never find out about him watching her. She looked too naive to figure it out. But looks can be deceiving.
Today, as she was running to catch the sunrise, Leonardo noticed she was carrying a piece of folded paper in her hand. He had no idea why she was. But decided not to think too much about it.
After her usual bathing in the morning glory, she ran back to the city. And she dropped the paper.
Curiosity got the better of Leonardo. He jumped down and looked at it. It said, "To: Person-Who-Watches-Me." At first, he thought that she might've been talking about him. So he picked up the letter and read it.
And guess what?
It was him.
But with content soon comes worry. As they say, all good things must come to an end.
Leonardo was running back to the lair. All possible scenarios that could ever happen played in his mind.
Scenario 1: He refuses to meet her face-to-face. Instead, she meets him face-to-face. She screams and runs away. Possibility of success: 99.9
Scenario 2: He meets her face-to-face. They introduce each other. They laugh. They talk. Everything goes smoothly. Possibility of success: .001
Scenario 3: He doesn't follow her anyone. They never meet again. They go on with their own lives. Possibility of success: 50
Leonardo was sure that he couldn't meet her face-to-face without hearing her scream and run away. And he didn't want to stop seeing her either. She was the only thing he had to look forward at the beginning and end of each day. He didn't know why, but he wanted to keep watching over her.
But he wanted to keep watching over her secretly without her knowing.
But now she knew...
So what could he do?
There's a simple solution to everything. But when it came to you, the simplest solutions weren't enough.
"Hey, Leo, you okay?" Donatello asked for the fifth time that morning.
Leonardo snapped out of his daydream. "Huh?"
"I said, 'Are you okay?' " he repeated.
"Oh. Yeah." Leonardo continued eating his cereal absentmindedly, but after a few bites, he stopped and daydreamed again.
He suddenly noticed that his brothers were staring at him. "What?" he asked. "Is there something on my face?"
"You've been spacing out all week, Leo," Don informed his brother.
"Yeah, man." Michelangelo burped. "Excuse me."
"Mind tellin' us what's goin' on?" Raphael asked in his low, coarse voice.
Leo looked at them one by one, wondering if he should tell them his secret. After all, they were his brothers. Maybe they could help him...
"Nothing's going on, guys. I'm just a little stressed out about training. That's all," Leo lied. He hoped that they bought it.
Michelangelo shrugged. "If that's what you say, bro."
"O...kay," Donatello said, unconvinced.
Raphael just gave him a glare, then returned to eating his cereal.
Leo didn't feel hungry suddenly. Excusing himself from the table, he placed his dishes in the sink and went up to his room. He lied to his brothers again, saying, "I'm going to mediate." But his mind was too chaotic for meditation. He would need more than just a few minutes of mediation to calm him down.
You've corrupted my mind. I don't know how you did it. But I wish you could undo it.
8:00 p.m.
"I'm going to patrol the city," Leo said as he grabbed his disguise: a long jacket and hat. He went out wordlessly.
Off into the streets he went. He made his way to 7th street, and waited at a stoplight. He looked around for the familiar sound of panting and the familiar sight of her flying brown hair.
Two seconds later, and he saw her running past him. Wordlessly, he followed her.
They reached the outskirts of the city. They ran through the forest. And finally they reached the cliff. When she stopped to enjoy the darkening sky, he jumped up a branch and waited.
"My name is Tsubasa Yamaguchi," she said.
Tsubasa. Japanese for wings. Leo liked it.
"I know that you've been following me. I've known for three days now."
Leo tensed. 'Three days?'
"I know you might be a serial killer or rapist. But I don't think you are." She took a deep breath. She turned around and faced the empty forest. "I know that if you were a serial killer or rapist, I wouldn't feel safe," she continued. She looked left and right for the person she knew was real. "So you must be some sort of guardian." She waited for a reply. "I want to meet you. See you face-to-face."
The urge to reveal his face to her was strong. But if it weren't for his good self-control, he would've jumped down and thrown off his hat.
"I'm tired of having faceless dreams about you," she continued.
'She has dreams about me?' Leo asked himself. The statement was flattering. It made Leo smile a bit.
"I want to know if you really exist, or if this is all part of my imagination."
Leo wished it was.
"So whoever you are, SHOW YOURSELF!" she screamed.
A few silent moments passed.
Leo still didn't show himself. The thought of her running away and never seeing her again was frightening. He didn't want her to run away. He didn't want to never see her again.
"I guess it was all part of my imagination then," Tsubasa told herself. "But I really wish that it wasn't," she added quietly. "Oh well. Might as well go home."
Without her usual happiness and joy, Tsubasa limped home.
Leo followed behind her, watching with a breaking heart.
Forgive me if I ever hurt you. I didn't mean to. I really didn't.
It was dark now.
Tsubasa didn't seem to care about the dangers of the dark. She was still in a state of sorrow.
"Hey, little girl, you know that it's not good for little girls to be out so late at night," a man called to her.
Tsubasa looked up at the man, who stood in an alley just ahead. He was just another drunkard. Then she looked back down at the ground and continued to limp toward him. She hoped that he would disappear and leave her to her sorrow.
She limped pass him, but before she could be out of his reach, he grabbed her arm and held it firmly.
"Hey, little girl, aren't you afraid there might be bad men out here?" he asked in a low, coarse voice.
"Please let me go, sir." Tsubasa tried to jerk away from his grip, but that wouldn't work. She tried to pull his fingers off of her. That didn't work either.
"Sir? Oh no, little girl, you won't be calling me that. You'll be calling me 'Daddy' from now on." The drunkard smirked lecherously. "And you're not going anywhere from Daddy." He pulled her and pushed her against the wall. "But Daddy will be taking you to a hotel." He looked her up and down again, and noticed that she was shaking and her eyes were shut tight. "Don't worry, doll face. Daddy won't harm you." His hand reached to touch her face...
But it never did.
Tsubasa felt the man's shadow hover over her no longer. She opened her eyes cautiously, and instantly felt relieved.
The drunkard was laying on the ground, unconscious. In front of him, with his face hidden in the shadow of a hat, was her savior.
Slightly shaking, Tsubasa stood tall. "Th-thank you."
"You're welcome," her savoir replied. His voice was serious and tense. There was a bit of fear in it. Hurriedly, he turned and was about to leave.
"W-wait!" Tsubasa called.
He stopped and waited.
"M-my name is Tsubasa Yamaguchi, just in case you didn't hear me the first time. I-I know that you're the one who's been following me." She paused to take a breath. "And thanks for that too."
Her savior didn't answer. Instead, he began to walk away again. Tsubasa followed close behind.
He led her back home.
"Thank you," she said again as she took out a key out of her jean pocket. She unlocked the door and went in.
Before she completely closed the door, she heard his voice, soft and serious. "Leonardo."
She stopped, and opened the door again. She smiled. "Thank you, Leonardo."
Why was I so worried? Everything turned out okay in the end.
There she was again, running to beat the sunrise. But there was something different about her today. The smile she wore on her face was one of greater happiness than her other smiles. The laughter she laughed held pure joy and bliss. She was running faster now, laughing and smiling all the way.
And this was what made Leo smile as he struggled to follow her.
They reached the cliff only a few minutes later. Leo hid in his usual tree.
"You don't need to hide anymore, Leonardo. I already know that you're there," Tsubasa said, that smile never leaving her face. She turned toward the sunrise. She breathed in the sunrise air and beauty. "Aren't you going to enjoy the sunrise with me?"
Leo, deciding that there really was no need to hide, jumped down from his tree. Cautiously and slowly, he walked to be side-by-side with Tsubasa.
"For some reason, today I feel very giddy inside," she said. "Maybe it's because I finally have someone to enjoy this with." She looked up at Leo, but he wouldn't turn to look at her. "Leonardo-"
"Call me Leo."
"Leo," she said, tasting it on her tongue. "Like the furious lion. I like it."
For a few minutes they stood just to bathe in the sunrise's beauty.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yeah. It's beautiful."
It was silent again.
And what a golden silence it was.
When we finally stood side-by-side for the first time, I felt something. It was unexplainable. But I liked it.
"You seem distracted, Leonardo," Splinter said as he and Leo sat in his room for their usual spiritual training.
"Oh. Sorry, Master Splinter." Leo was still smiling.
Splinter smirked. "I am happy that you are happy, Leonardo. But we must be training now."
"Yes, Master." Leo tried to erase the happy feeling, but it wouldn't go away. His smile seemed to be glued to his face with super glue.
"Tell me what is making you so happy that you cannot concentrate," Splinter said after a while. "Is a prank that Raphael did to Michelangelo?"
"No, Master Splinter. It's not that." Leo hesitated to continue. "It's a girl..."
"A girl?" Splinter asked, surprised. "Who is this girl?"
Leo hesitated to tell his father. But finally, he decided that telling Splinter wouldn't hurt. Splinter would give Leo advice. With that in mind, Leo opened his mouth.
For the next five minutes, Leo told Splinter everything. He told him how he had met Tsubasa. He told him his feelings and urges. He told him about his morning.
"I see." He took in everything that Leo had told him and absorbed them. "So, you must really like this girl, Leonardo, if she makes you this happy," Splinter concluded.
Leo blushed at the thought of like liking Tsubasa. The idea was new to him. Of course he'd hear of humans like liking each other. It usually turned to love. And usually it turned into love a few hours later. Leo had known Tsubasa for a week. Did that mean...?
"I will not forbid you to continue seeing this girl, but I do warn you, my son. You must be careful. Do not let her see your face," Splinter warned. "That is all, my son. Your training is over."
Leo bowed and left the room.
Keeping you to myself would be selfish. So I told one person about you. (I don't think that counts.)
It was evening. And as usual, Leo left the lair in disguise with his usual excuse: "I'm going to patrol the city."
"Yeah. Sure you're gonna patrol the city," Mikey said sarcastically with a smirk.
Leo stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. "What're you talking about?"
"Oh, nothing." That smirk on Mikey's face was still on. "Nothing at all."
Leo raised a brow. He looked at his other two brothers. Don was working on another project. Raph was in his room, probably training. "Well...uh...I'll be leaving now." And off he went.
Quickly he got to the surface. He waited in his place on 7th street for her to come running past him, and then he would tail her.
In two seconds, she ran past him. And he was tailing her.
The smile on her face was the same as the one she had in the morning. The blissfulness of it had grown somehow. The sparkle in her eye was shining brighter now.
It made Leo smile again.
When they reached the forest on the city outskirts, Tsubasa began to slow down. She caught her breath, turned her head, and saw Leo.
"Hey, Leo," she panted out.
"Hey."
She stood up again. "Race ya to the cliff. Winner gets a favor from the loser."
"You're on, Tsubasa." Her name tasted and sounded strange on his tongue. But he liked it.
"Okay. Get ready, set..." Five whole seconds passed. "GO!" And off she ran.
"Cheater!"
"I never said that you couldn't cheat!" Tsubasa responded.
With a grin, Leo jumped on the trees. Jumping from tree branch to tree branch, he caught up to her. Pretty soon, he was ahead of her. Quickly, he jumped out of the trees and landed right before her.
"Alright, you win. What would you like as your reward?" Quickly she added, "But only this once."
Leo didn't know how to answer. He didn't really want anything from Tsubasa. Well, there were a few things, but he didn't want to ask her yet. He would wait.
"Let me think about that and give you my answer later," Leo finally said.
Tsubasa laughed for no reason. "You're a really indecisive person, Leo."
Laughing at the small joke, Leo agreed.
"But I like that about you."
"Why?"
She shrugged. "I don't know."
"Maybe it's because you're indecisive, too." Leo laughed.
She joined in the laughter. "Maybe."
They stopped laughing after a while. And just stared at the darkening sky.
"Hey Leo, can you tell me why you were following me?" Tsubasa asked to break the silence.
It was an awkward question. But Leo decided to answer it with full honesty. "I don't really know. I just woke up early one morning, went outside, and saw you running. I was wondering where you went. So I followed you."
"Wearing this?" Tsubasa stared at his trench coat. "Do you always wear this?"
"Umm...I'm allegoric to the sun's ultraviolet rays," Leo lied. He hoped that was the right word choice. He remembered Don talking about 'global warming' and the 'greenhouse effect.' He also said the word, 'ultraviolet rays' in there a lot of times.
"Oh. So you have xeroderma pigmentosum?" she asked. "My friend has that condition too."
Leo was even sure of what those long words meant. But he played along anyway. "Uhh...sure. Let's go with that."
"So, do you have dreams in the daylight?" Tsubasa asked randomly.
"Yeah," Leo answered. Of course he had daydreams.
"What do you dream of then?"
"I dream of becoming going to Japan," was Leo's brief answer. "What do you dream of, Tsubasa?"
She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I dream about a faceless man who protects a girl for absolutely no reason."
The blue-masked turtle was taken by surprise. But he was quickly returned to reality. "So, when you said that, you meant it?"
Tsubasa suddenly looked a little ticked off. "Of course I was. Did you think I was just trying to get you out in the open?"
"Well...uhh...it's just that..."
She suddenly broke off laughing. "I'm just playing with you, Leo." Her laughter lasted only for a while. "But I wasn't lying when I said that. I really do dream of you sometimes."
Leo smirked. "You flatter me." A moment of silence passed. "So, when you dream about me, what happens?"
"Well..." She trailed off, trying to recall a recent dream. "I dream of your outline, without your trench coat and hat. For some reason I see you as a big, fat, bald guy. I see you walking to me in a fog, reaching out a hand. When I take it, it's cold, but I feel all warm. You help me up. Then I lean in for a close look at your face." She added quietly, "Or probably to kiss you."
Leo felt warm again, but not the happy warm. It was an uncomfortable warm.
"Then I wake up," she ended briefly.
"You dream of kissing me?"
A small blush appeared on her cheeks. "Did I say that aloud?"
"You kinda did."
Tsubasa pouted. "Damn. I gotta learn the difference between thoughts and words."
Leo chuckled at her, liking the way she looked when she was angry. 'She looks cute when she's angry.' When he thought cute, he thought of a kid-like cuteness.
"Are you laughing at me?" Tsubasa asked, mildly angry.
He stopped laughing, but he was still smiling. "Maybe."
Quickly her anger was gone. She was smiling again, then she laughed. Because she laughed, Leo laughed.
Minutes flew by. Before they both knew it, it became completely dark.
"Is it dark already?" Tsubasa looked around, and saw that it was. "I think we lost track of time."
"Yeah. It's late. You'd better be heading home." Leo turned. He jolted his head toward the city for a quick moment. "C'mon."
And, side-by-side, they walked.
How can a cold-blooded reptile feel warmth? How could someone like you make me laugh just because you laughed? I wondered if I would ever find out.
Months passed.
Well, actually only weeks passed. But it felt like months.
Days were longer. It seemed to take forever for dawn to become dusk and vice versa. Even when Leo was sleeping it felt like forever. He was becoming more impatient. He was concentrating a little less on his training and mediation. He didn't know why, but he couldn't wait to see her.
And this aroused worry.
Seeing Leo as something he was not was, in simple terms Mikey would understand, weird.
And it made everyone worried about his health and mentality.
Especially Splinter...
They say too much of a good thing is bad. I guess they were right.
"Leonardo, you are concentrating less on your training, and more on seeing this girl," Splinter said after a session of training.
"I'm sorry, Master Splinter. I promise I'll try harder," Leo quickly said.
Splinter sighed. "I wish that I did not have to say this, my son. But I'll have to forbid you from seeing this girl."
"What?!"
"Only for a week."
"But, Master-"
"It is for your own good, Leonardo. You must understand-"
"I do. But-"
"You may go."
"But-"
This time, Splinter glared at him. "I said you may go."
Leo was defeated, once again, by his father rat. He bit his teeth hard to shut his mouth from arguing. He didn't want to be grounded for another week, or worst, forever.
With a graceful bow he left.
It's unlike me to argue against my father. It's unlike me to not be able to focus on my center. It's really not like me at all.
"I can't see you anymore, Tsubasa," Leo said briefly and quickly that evening when he and she reached the cliff.
"Huh?"
"Not for a week."
"Why?"
"I've been ignoring my studies," Leo explained.
"Oh. It's okay. Besides, I'll be starting my job next week and I won't be able to watch the sky darken. So I'll only be able to come here in the mornings," Tsubasa informed him. She stood up from her sitting position. "Well, it's starting to get late. We'd better get going."
"Yeah."
Leo closed his eyes and made a metal image of Tsubasa, making sure that it was perfect with the real Tsubasa. This was going to be the only available image of her that he could see for a week.
Maybe I'm over exaggerating. But I feel like living without you would be horrible. I don't even want to think about it. If I can't see you, I fear your image will be erased from my memory completely.
A week seemed like forever. It felt like years. But to try and pass the time away, Leo mediated and trained. It worked for a while, until he remembered Tsubasa.
But the good thing was that he was starting to become more concentrated on his mediating and training again. It was relief to Splinter and the other turtles.
Finally, only a day left and then Leo was allowed to start seeing Tsubasa again...
I look forward to seeing you again every waking moment. You've become the most important person to me.
"Leo, Raph."
Both Leo and Raph looked at their rat father, pausing their sparring match.
"Yes, Master Splinter?"
"It seems that we are running out of milk. Can you please go fetch us some?" Splinter asked in his weary, old voice. He took out an empty milk carton and shook it. It made no noise.
"Sure, Splinter. We'll go right now," Leo answered quickly and politely, like he almost always did. He sheathed his swords away on his back.
"What?! But we're not even finished with our battle yet," Raph complained.
"Getting milk is more important than our battle, Raph."
Defeated, Raph placed his sais away. "Fine."
Do you remember when you first saw my true form? Were you scared of me? Were you disgusted? Do you want to remember at all?
It was already dusk, and grocery stores were still open. Only a few small grocery stores were closed. And those were the stores that the turtles liked to raid most.
"Okay. We'll just get the milk and go home."
"Yeah, yeah," Raph replied, annoyed. "You don't need to tell me every time, Leo."
They went in by the back door. It was easier and less risky that way.
By using a device that Don made, they unlocked the door quickly. Using the cover of darkness, they slipped in.
Leo looked around the store, trying to find the refrigerators where they kept milk. "Okay, now where's the-"
"Leo."
"What?"
Raph pointed at the counter. Leo glanced over at it.
There was a girl sleeping with her head in her folded arms.
"She's asleep. As long as she doesn't wake up, we're okay." Leo turned his attention back to the task at hand. "Now where is that milk?" He and Raph split, trying to find the milk.
"Hey, Leo. Over here. Found it," Raph yelled quietly. "Got it."
"Good. Now let's get out of-"
"Who's there?" a voice yelled tiredly.
"Damn," Raph muttered.
"Hello?"
The two brothers stood still, waiting for the girl to go back to sleep.
After it got very quiet, and the girl's even breathing could be heard, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was close," Leo whispered.
"Next time I'm picking the store we raid," Raph half-joked. "Now let's just get outta here."
They walked slowly toward the back door. But something happened...
They tripped.
Well, Raph tripped over something, then Leo tripped over him.
And the lights turned on.
Before them stood the girl before, a broom raised high. She was about to slam it down on Leo's head. "I've got you now, you-!" she stopped, confused. "Turtles?"
Leo looked up at the sound of the voice, hoping that his suspicions were wrong.
They were right.
It was Tsubasa.
If you're in danger, I'll do whatever it takes to protect you. You're the most important person to me, you know.
"What the...?"
Leo froze. He couldn't move. He didn't even hear Raph when he said, "Get offa me, Leo!" He stayed put, just watching with fear.
Slowly, Tsubasa lowered the broom and moved toward the two turtles, reaching out a hand.
Acting on instinct, Raph pushed Leo off him. Seeing that Leo was frozen stiff and solid, Raph took his wrist and pulled himself and him out of the store.
"What happened back there, Leo?" Raph asked once he and Leo were in the sewers. "You just froze on me."
"I was just..." He tried to look for the right words. None came up. "I don't know." Leo didn't know how to explain it without revealing to Raph his secret.
"Well, that was a total waste of time. We didn't even get the milk. I dropped it when I tripped. And that girl saw us too."
Silence passed as the brothers looked down at the sewer water.
"What should we do?"
"Hope that she doesn't tell anyone else," Leo answered.
"What?!"
"I said we should-"
"We're gonna lie to Master Splinter?!"
"Yes-"
"Leo!"
"What?!" Leo was starting to get irritated by the interruptions.
"This is the first time you've ever lied to Splinter."
"And?"
"And?! What do you mean, 'And'?!" Raph yelled. "We're lying to Master Splinter. Isn't that against your code or something?"
Leo answered his question with a question of his own. "Do you want us to get in trouble or not?"
"Well, when you put it that way-"
"So it's settled then. We won't tell Master Splinter."
Raph thought for a moment, wondering if this was a good thing or not. Finally, defeated, he echoed, "We won't tell Master Splinter."
"Okay then." Quickly, a lie came into Leo's head. "We'll just say that we dropped the milk because the owners suddenly came in. But they didn't see us."
Raph still had a look of confusion on his face. But then he shrugged it off. "Sounds good to me."
I want to keep you to myself. I know I'm being selfish, but I can't help it. When it comes to you, I go crazy.
"Aren't you going to patrol the city, Leonardo?" Splinter asked that morning when he saw Leo at the breakfast table. Usually he was late for breakfast because of his 'patrolling.'
"Not today, Master Splinter. Today I'm going to focus solely on training," Leo half-lied. He was going to focus on his training. But that wasn't honestly the reason.
He was afraid. Deep inside, he was afraid. He was afraid that if he saw Tsubasa, he would spill everything out to her. He would reveal himself as the thief last night. He couldn't lie to her; someone who accepted him without hesitation.
But he could lie to his family for her, to protect her.
He didn't understand why he was suddenly becoming a liar. He didn't really need to lie. He could just tell them everything. They would talk about it and work on a strategy. But no, he just had to lie to them because...
Because of what exactly?
He didn't know. And a part of him didn't want to know.
I would lie to my best friend. I would lie to everyone. As long as you remain mine, and mine alone.
Splinter opened the refrigerator door, looking for the missing milk. It was as if he were waiting for it to magically appear again, new and not spoiled. "Leonardo, Raphael, I need you to fetch the milk again tonight."
Leo looked up from his reading. "Sure thing, Master Splinter."
Raph, on the other hand, didn't look up from his newspaper. "Do we have ta?"
"Yes, we do, Raph," Leo scolded.
Sighing in defeat, Raph stood up. "Fine. But remember, this time I pick the store."
Just as they did last night, using the cover of darkness, they waited up at a rooftop overlooking their next raid. They were waiting for the lights to close and the daylights to disappear.
"Hey, Leo, 'bout last night..." Raph trailed off, not really sure if he wanted to ask his question or not.
"Yeah?"
"Why'd you lie to Master Splinter? I mean, you never lie to Master Splinter." Raph stretched out the word 'never' because it was true. "You're the teacher's pet."
Leo wanted to ignore the question, but if he did, he would arouse suspicion. Raph was stupid, but not that stupid. But what lie could he say? "If we tell Master Splinter, he'll be stressed out. He's getting old. He doesn't need anymore stress."
"Oh. I see. So what're we gonna do 'bout her, though?"
"Hope that she doesn't tell anyone."
"Hoping ain't gonna help us, Leo," Raph pointed out. "Shouldn't we at least tell Don and Mikey?"
He ignored Raph's first remark. "It's best not to get them involved."
Raph shrugged off whatever doubts he had. "If that's what you say, Leo."
The sun's lights disappeared, and the store's lights turned off. That's when they went in for the kill.
Just like the other night, Leo and Raph went through the back door and into the store from there.
"Just get the milk and we'll leave," Leo ordered.
"Yeah, yeah."
But before they could split, just a few seconds later, the lights came on.
"Damn," Raph muttered. "Who is it this time?"
"If you wanted milk, you could've just asked. I wouldn't mind helping out a few oversized turtles now and then."
They both turned toward the voice behind them. And saw the same girl from the other night.
"What the-? Weren't you at the other store the other night, lady?" Raph asked, confused. After all, he was all brawns.
"My name's Tsubasa Yamaguchi, turtle. Not lady," she demanded.
"C'mon, Raph. We need to get out of here," Leo ordered on instinct.
"On it, Leo." Raph grabbed one of his sais and was about to throw it out a window. "OOF!" Raph was suddenly kicked down on his bottom, rubbing his shell. "What was that for, lady?!"
"I told you, the name's Tsubasa. And there's no way you're breaking windows on my watch. If you want to leave, use the door," Tsubasa gestured to the back door, which was open. "I'm not gonna stop you."
"You mean, you're just gonna let us go? Like that?" Raph asked, standing up.
Tsubasa nodded with a smile. "Sure."
"Uhh...thanks...?" Raph said.
Awkwardly, but hurriedly, they left the store with the milk this time.
"O...kay. That was weird," Raph said as they were walking through the sewers. "Why'd she just let us go like that?"
Leo said nothing in return.
Raph, getting the message, kept his mouth shut on the subject.
They returned to the lair, gave Splinter the milk, and agreed silently to keep quiet about the girl.
I don't know why I'm doing these things for you. I don't understand myself anymore. I'm lost in a fog at sea. Please be my guiding light.
Leo woke up early that morning and left the lair (in disguise), as he did almost every other morning. He waited on 7th street, waiting for her to run pass him.
In a few seconds she came, running as usual. But there was something different about her.
The bliss in her smile was gone. Not completely, but most of it was gone. She wasn't smiling anymore. She was thinking. Thinking of something. Her eyes had that faraway look, as if her body was there but her soul was not.
But nevertheless, she was running to catch the sunrise, even if she was unconscious of it. And Leo tailed her closely, keeping her in his sight.
They reached the cliff shortly after.
She was sat down on the dewy grass. She was panting hard, harder than she ever did before.
"Why weren't you here yesterday, Leo?" Tsubasa asked, once she caught her breath. She was still panting as she waited for Leo's answer.
"I was grounded for another day," Leo lied.
He hated this constant lying. He hated it with all his pride. Pretty soon, he would have no pride left.
"You're sure the irresponsible one, aren't you?" She laughed at her own joke.
"And how was the job?" Leo walked over to her left side, not daring to look at her.
"It was great. I even made some new friends," Tsubasa said with a casual smile.
A gauche silence fell over them like a cold blanket.
"Leo, if I told you something crazy, would you believe me?" Her voice was serious and soft. Not a tint of playfulness tainted it.
"Depends." Leo was sure that she was going to tell him about seeing oversized, mutant turtles.
Tsubasa smirked, amused by something. "I saw mutant turtles."
Leo laughed halfheartedly.
"Seriously, Leo. I saw them..." She trailed off, unsure of what to say next.
"Tsubasa, what exactly is your job?" Strange. Even if they talked about her job, Leo didn't know exactly what it was.
"Night guard," she said casually, as if it were a normal, teenage girl thing. "Different stores hire me on different nights."
"I see." Now it was Leo's turn to have that looking-beyond look in his hidden eyes.
Everything was starting to make sense.
"Leo, you know what was ironic? One of the turtles was named Leo, like you. And when he talked, he sounded like you." The sentence would've sounded like a joke, but when Tsubasa said it, it was serious. When Leo didn't laugh at her statement, she continued. "Leo...just who or what are you really?"
Leo was afraid that she would ask one day. It was bound to happen. He had hoped that it never would. But as Raph had said, "Hoping ain't gonna help us."
"I'm..." he trailed off. He looked at the ground, hoping that if he avoided Tsubasa's eyes, the lie would just roll off his tongue.
But no. The lie remained in his throat.
"Leo?"
"Promise me something first, Tsubasa." He had no idea where he was going with this now. Before she answered, he continued. "Promise me you won't scream. You can run away, but you won't scream."
"Why would I run away?"
"Just promise me that much, Tsubasa. I don't care if you hate me afterward, or if you don't want to see me again. Just promise me you won't scream." The tone in Leo's voice was saddening. It was...desperate. He was desperate. Never in his life had he ever been more desperate than now. "Promise me."
Tsubasa nodded. "I promise."
"Okay..."
Slowly, he lifted his hands out of his pockets. He took off his hat and threw it on the ground. He slipped out of his jacket. He stripped himself of the only protection and shield he had against rejection.
"This is who I really am." He couldn't look up from the ground. But he couldn't look at the ground either. He was afraid he would sink in. So he closed his eyes.
He heard the grass shuffle. He heard footsteps advancing toward him. He felt something warm taking his three-fingered hands and holding them tightly. But he didn't dare to open his eyes.
"Leo," she said softly. Her voice, soft like a mother's or sister's, sounded reassuring. "I don't hate you. I don't never want to see you again. I don't want to run away from you. What kind of person do you think I am?"
Leo still didn't look up or open his eyes.
"I don't hate you, Leo. I can't hate you..."
That brought Leo some relief, but not enough to get him to open his eyes.
"How can I hate someone I've come to love?"
'Did she just say what I think she said?'
Leo opened his eyes and finally looked at Tsubasa's. She was staring back at his masked ones.
Her eyes were still accepting. They were still truthful. They were still sincere.
"After all we've been through, do you think I can hate you?" she continued. Her grip of Leo's hands tightened.
Leo was still speechless.
She smiled at his speechlessness. "I've loved you all along."
Leo was still speechless. Words that were supposed to come by instinct and just roll off his tongue were still caught in his throat. They were suffocating him.
So he did the only thing that came as instinct.
He kissed her, soft and fast.
Slowly I begin to understand. I know why I did those things. I did it because of love. I did it because I love you.
Stars. He saw stars when he kissed her. But he quickly pulled away when he realized what he had done.
The warmth of her lips lingered on his cold-blooded lips. He found himself yearning for more. And he didn't know why.
Maybe it was because of love.
It gradually made sense to him.
He had done those things for Tsubasa because he loved her. He wanted to protect her because he loved her. He wanted to see her face all the time because he loved her. He didn't want to face her yesterday because he loved her. He lied to his family because he loved her. He loved her.
He had done the things he did because of love. It was all because of love.
"Thank you." He hesitated before saying, "I love you" with a small smile. He liked the way it tasted on his tongue.
Her smile widened, not literally, but emotionally it did. The bliss in her smile was pure, like that first morning they shared together side-by-side. Now Leo understood what had made her smile different that day.
It was because of love.
And because he loved her, Leo kissed her again.
People do crazy things because of love. I know that I did. And I would've done it all over again. For love. Because of love.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!