Summer was waning. Autumn had begun to take over. The leaves on the trees of New York City were beginning to change different colors. They took on all sort of colors, the majority hues of red. Everyone enjoyed their glory while it lasted, watching as the leaves fell to the ground. It was a rather sad process, really. The leaves became beautiful and vibrant, then they fell to the ground to rot.

The air was getting a bit crisper, even though winter was still a little under a full season away. The change between the blazing heat of summer and the cool, comfortable feeling of fall was significant. Everybody was relieved that the worst of the heat was over, but dreading the winter that was to come. Many were saying that it would be a bad one, with lots of snowfall and ice. Black ice even, which made the streets and sidewalks slick and dangerous to traverse on. But, the people of New York City dealt with it just as they had all of the winters before it.

The only ones who didn't seem very pleased with the change were the turtles. Of course, nobody knew or care, for nobody even knew about them in the first place. So their complaints were confined to the lair, where everyone grew a bit edgy. They all despised winter, for they were cold-blooded and needed warmth to thrive. In the winter time they always grew sluggish, their game thrown off, and they sometimes slipped up... More than usual.

Everyone was tense. Things had not been getting any better with the Shredder or the Kraang. The footbots were endless, everywhere they turned they were faced by them, except for down in their homey sewers of course. Shredder's minions were not letting up with their attacks. Karai was not letting them ease up. She wouldn't give the turtles any room... even though she wanted to. Three turtles she could care less about, but one... Her feelings were jumbled up and out of control. She'd thought of every way possible to get herself out of this predicament... To possibly stop this fighting. But, that would mean she'd have to betray the Shredder... her father. The Shredder would not handle her betrayal lightly, if he were to find her after she ran away. But, perhaps she could find somewhere to go... But, she knew this wasn't the way to go. She had to continue fighting. She loved to fight, she did, but against him... She didn't want to anymore. But NO, she must. Father demanded it. Everything would get too complicated and painful if she went against his will, even if it was what she truly wished to do.

It was early when she went out to scout. She'd wanted to get up before her father did, so that she could enjoy a few moments of peace by herself before she had to go out with the rest of the Foot to search for the turtles again, as they did everyday now. In order to do that she had to get up in the wee hours of the morning. She'd been doing this often now and was quickly getting tired, not getting all the rest that she needed.

She moved along the rooftops now, not wanting to walk on the sidewalk among the clueless, pathetic people who knew nothing of the war that had waged in their city. Everything was at risk, nothing was stable, everything was fragile and teetering on the edge of destruction. It wouldn't be long before the city became aware of how seriously threatened New York City was... But, for now, Karai let them live the innocent lives of the clueless.

The morning air was cold. The mornings were always chilly in autumn. But, Karai didn't mind it. She almost liked the cool, crisp feeling. It helped her to think clearly, and her shudders helped her to know that she was still alive...that she was still a human. It was good to know that she hadn't turned completely into a monstrous villain, wanting only to destroy her enemies. If anything... she was a confused, lonely creature, with a twisted heart and conflicted emotions.

With a soft sigh she sat upon the edge of the building, legs dangling down the sides. Her posture slumped, head lowered as she stared down at the street below, consciousness slipping to thoughts until she was barely aware of where she was and what she was doing. Many thoughts plagued her mind, dark and deadly like a disease, vicious and sharp like a blade. Why did things have to be this way? Why could she not just work up the bravery to run away? She wanted to so badly. Why were her feelings so conflicted about the blue-clad turtle, Leonardo? Why did he strike her nerves so much, why did she like him!? What was it about him? Was it the way he treated her like a person, instead of some violent, evil wench? Or could it be the way he wouldn't fight his hardest upon facing her? She'd seen him fight before and he was...scary at the least, though she'd never admit this. His red-clad brother's anger was easily displayed and furious. Rage was his fuel. Leo's anger was silent and submissive, though it was still there, boiling beneath his skin. Whenever facing her he held back... It was both irritating and endearing. All these emotions all these thoughts they just... they just broke her down.

It was by chance that he found her here, sitting at the edge of the building, her arms crossed against her chest as if she was trying to comfort herself. The chances of him stumbling across her here were slim. At first she didn't notice the blue-clad turtle who hung back warily, three-fingered hand lingering on the hilt of one of his katanas, as if he were either contemplating attack or just being cautious.

She did not know he was there, her game so off, until he spoke. "Karai?" the tone of his voice was not harsh or angry, but instead soft and questioning. What was she doing here? Why was she looking so... lost? Why had she not noticed him? She was the leader of the Foot clan, how could her trained senses not give his position away.

Upon hearing his voice the armor-clad girl stiffened, her posture becoming rigid. No, not now... Why did he have to come now, of all times? Why did he have to come at her moment of weakness? Why him of all of the turtles? And why did he sound so gentle, shouldn't he be taking advantage of her situation? He should thrust a katana through her heart, it was broken anyways, or push her off the edge to let her fall and splatter on the concrete. But he did neither of these things. He just stood there.

"Go away." she growled at him, trying to gather as much venom into her voice as possible. She could almost feel his eyes on her back, boring a hole into her, as if he were peering right into her soul and judging it for what it was. Good or evil? Worth saving? Worth... caring about?

He let out a soft huffing noise at her, though she didn't hear his footsteps as he walked away.. though that didn't say much. He was a ninja, as she was, he could be silent if he wanted. But, she could still feel his presence. He hadn't gone away like she'd wanted him to. He just stood there. She could only imagine the expression on her face.

She blinked slightly down at the ground and to her surprise, she felt tears in her eyes. Tears? She hadn't cried since she was little, why was she crying now? Karai blinked her golden eyes furiously, trying desperately to blink the tears away, so they only piled on top of each other, never going away.

She heard him take an uneasy step forward. Her boundaries seemed to break and she turned her body to the side, looking up at him. She automatically saw the surprise on Leo's face as he registered her tears, and the uneasiness that followed. The Shredder's daughter was crying? This he had not expected. "Karai?" he repeated, still softly, though he sounded nervous now. She noted that his hand still loosely rested upon the hilt of one katana. Normally that would have made her smirk at his caution, but not now. She wasn't herself right now.

He looked confused and also... concerned. He was concerned about her? Why would he worry about her? She was the one who'd tried to kill his family countless times. She was his enemy's daughter. She was the leader of the Foot Clan! Why did he care about her!? How could someone be so gentle and have such a kind heart?

Her bottom lip quivered despite herself as she tried to choke back the mixed feelings that overwhelmed her. She let out a muffled, stifled sob and his expression relaxed almost immediately. Without even thinking, Leo's hand slipped off of his katana and he crouched down to her level, looking at her in an upset, uneasy way. He'd had to deal with tears before. But those tears had only been with his younger brothers, when they were little. He had been used to comforting them and wiping away their tears then... But that'd been years ago, and this was different. He had no skills with girls... especially crying girls.. He was unsure what to do, how to act... She was like a ticking time bomb, she could explode in his face at any second. But, he couldn't just let her suffer.

"Karai..." he said, his voice much softer than it had been before. She didn't move, head bowed as her frame was racked with soundless sobs. She just wanted him to go away, she didn't want him to see her like this. She didn't want him to see her weakness... She just decided to pretend that he wasn't there, but what he did next made that impossible.

He reached out for her, large thumb brushing over her cheek, wiping away the tears that trickled down her face. There was no point in it, the river just kept flowing. When she didn't lunge at him or chew him out he took that as a sign that she wasn't going to attack. So, still a bit cautiously, he sat down and scooted over next to her. She looked away from him, ashamed of her emotional state.

Without a word he reached out to, arms wrapping about her and pulling her onto his lap in a tight hug. As shocked as she was, she stopped breathing for a moment, sobs ceasing. She would not have expected him to do this. He'd embraced the girl who's father would never do the same, even though they were at war with one another.

The last of her resolve melted and she went limp against him, head resting upon his shoulder. The force of her sorrow was completely unleashed and she found herself sobbing into his shoulder, arms wrapped about him tightly, as if she never wanted to let go. He didn't move, though she could sense the unease roiling off of him. She let out a choked laugh between her sobs and forced out a sentence. "You... are... adorable." She felt him let out a small chuckle, but he did not reply. Her sobs had faded away, though her body still shook from the force of them, and wet tears still slid down her face. She didn't let Leo go. She wished that she could just stay in his embrace forever. He didn't move, remaining completely still, arms still tight about her.

She didn't know how long they stayed this way or how long it'd been since she'd stopped crying. All she noticed was that the sun had begun to rise. She knew what this meant. Her father and Leo's brothers would be waking up soon, so they needed to depart. But, she couldn't bring herself to say it first.

She'd almost fallen asleep against his shoulder, eyes closed. She focused only on the rise and fall of his chest beneath her as he breathed, calm and reassuring. She didn't want to go... She wanted this to last. But, Leo broke it, as she knew he would. He stirred lightly for the first time since they'd taken up this embrace, his arms going slack around her. She knew then that the moment was over. "Karai." he said calmly and the way he said her name sent a shiver down her spine. She didn't say anything. He continued. "The sun is rising, we have to go. Our family will be awake soon. We can't afford to be caught like this." She could almost sense a small smile in his voice. "I would never hear the end of it from my brothers and something tells me your father wouldn't be too pleased."

Letting out a heart-felt sigh, she leaned back away from him, looking at him face-to-face for the first time in a while. Their eyes locked. Those stormy blue-grey eyes of his still seemed as if they could pierce through her and look upon her soul. She'd thought that of them since she'd ever met him. "Thank you." she mumbled quietly, looking away and breaking the eye contact. "You're welcome." he says, ever the gentleman.

She moves away from him, standing a bit shakily, and went to collect her blade, which she'd set on the ground when she'd got here. Leo also got to his feet, stretching stiff muscles. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, watching her collect her blade, but he didn't feel threatened... not after that spill.

All redness of her face and eyes had disappeared, she looked as she always did, completely reserved and predatory. She pretended as if nothing had just happened. She walked over to him, stopping beside him and tapping him on the shoulder with her blade.

"If you tell anybody about this, Leonardo, I believe I may have to kill you."