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Fanfic based on "Crossing the Line" by Sleepingseeker
art/Crossing-the-Line-404444133
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I do not own TMNT.
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Finally posting chapters from my new, and first original, Leorai fanfic!
I hope you like it!
Be sure to check out the fanart that inspired this story -
follow the link above!
Thanks for reading!
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Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Leonardo stared at his bedroom ceiling. The lair was otherwise so silent, the "ticks" of his alarm clock resounded in his ears like a booming gong.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
The seconds passed like hours. Sleep evaded him, and no amount of ninjutsu training enabled him to capture it.
Tick.
Just like Karai.
Tock.
WHY AM I STILL THINKING OF HER?!
Tick.
...I can't help it...
Tock.
...I'll ALWAYS think of her.
Leo flipped onto his stomach and stared at the clock. The thoughts flooding his mind wouldn't be dammed, despite the number of imaginary shurikens he counted. She didn't believe me. Words they exchanged the night before last rushed to mind.
"Karai, listen! There's something you should know. It's about your father...your REAL father! Your real name is Miwa!"
"I'm not interested in ANYTHING but YOU, begging for your life!"
His face scrunched at the painful memory. Karai is really Miwa, Splinter's daughter, but….she didn't believe me. She won't even listen... He squeezed his eyes shut, but the picture of her standing over Splinter's vulnerable, poisoned form lying on the rooftop...like a huntress looking down at the prey who'd evaded her for so long and was now, at last, in her clutches...the image continued to swim before his eyes, no matter how tightly he closed them. Leo couldn't watch her unknowingly harm her father. He had to do something, ANYthing, to stop her.
"Karai...Karai, don't do this. Splinter – he's your father. Your TRUE father!"
"LIAR! You'd say anything to save him!"
"No, I swear it! He's your father, Hamato Yoshi."
Leo sighed. She didn't believe me...and she probably never will. How can I make her see the truth?
He twisted onto his back and resumed his scrutiny of the unchanged ceiling. The shadows of the darkness seemed to twist and contort themselves into shapes the longer he stared. He rubbed his eyes. When he opened them again, her face appeared before them clearly in the darkness.
Karai!
Leo bolted upright and slammed his fists onto his mattress, gritting his teeth in frustration. His heart, whether a willing captive or no, was inexorably bound to Karai. He knew now that it would never again be free.
"Enough of this," he whispered to the shadows. I'll make her see. It's almost sunset... He rose from his bed and strapped his twin katana to his back, straightened his mask, and set his jaw. Leo's eyes darted back to his bed. After a moment's hesitation, he walked back to it, lifted the mattress with one hand, and with the other, pulled a slender tanto from beneath it. The memory of the night he acquired the crimson-hilted blade flashed into his mind - the night she saved his life. She's worth it. He slid the small sword snugly between the leather-bound sheaths of his katana. Even if she never believes the truth about her father…. He silently moved to the door. ….I'll make her face the truth about me. …...About us.
After patiently waiting some minutes to ensure everyone else was still asleep, he slipped noiselessly into the hall, through the living quarters, and out to the abandoned subway that served as their main street. Leo didn't know where she'd be tonight….what might be going through her mind….but he knew they had a habit of finding each other, even in the vast city of New York. He was drawn to her like a moth to a flame, with the same inescapable pull the tiny insects felt just before getting burned. But rather than a candle, Karai was a wildfire, scorching everyone and everything that got too close.
She's about to see just how much pain I'm willing to go through to get to her.
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Karai ran.
She didn't care where to.
She just had to run.
It's not true. It's NOT true. It's NOT TRUE! It's a trick! A lousy trick from that lousy rat and his lousy turtles-
She thought of Leo, and tears stung her eyes in the dry night air. How COULD he?! How could Leo…I trusted him, once…. Then he went after Shredder – my FATHER – well…he didn't know, at the time….but he tried to KILL my father! And now, he's spreading Splinter's lies! He's devoted to that piece of filth….that he just called MY father! My FATHER! How COULD he?!
Her kunoichi training and instincts served her well in her flight. Without thinking about what she was doing, Karai leaped from building to building, up flights of stairs, down fire escape ladders, over scaffolds and across alleys. Her breaths were ragged and deep. This exertion was nothing to her – no different from any other night - but her mind was reeling, and her body was following suit. She didn't want to believe him. She couldn't! How could she want to embrace the lie that her sworn enemy was actually, at one time, the man that sired her? With the woman HE killed….my MOTHER! ….My mother. Of all the lies they could've come up with, they had to tell her the most despicable one she could imagine.
Karai blinked back her tears as the wind whipped her hair into her face. That morning, just after dawn, when their battle was over and the Hamato clan was reveling in its victory, she had hidden behind a billboard and overheard their conversation. Raphael's voice echoed in her ears.
"But what about Karai?"
"I still can't believe that evil witch is your daughter. Um...sorry to be so honest." Karai snarled at the thought of that bratty April O'Neil...
"Perhaps one day she will believe the truth." Splinter replied. "But that is her decision."
Karai growled between panting breaths. At the time, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. They ALL seemed to believe that she was Splinter's daughter! Was their sensei so convincing, or were the turtles even more easily duped than she had thought?! How could they possibly believe that she was their master's daughter? ...Or...is it possible...could it possibly...be true...? This nagging thought, and other similar doubts, continued to creep into her mind against her will. She was losing the will to fight them, and so...she ran.
She had already traversed half of Manhattan since the sun went down. Just after crossing Broadway, her darting eyes glanced at a run-down theater. The warning tape crisscrossed over every entrance told her that the building, once beautiful and ornate, was now condemned and probably scheduled for demolition in the near future. Perfect. She made her way to the roof and kicked in the taped and locked door, releasing a sliver of her frustration. It was black inside. Good. She slid into the shadows and closed the door behind her. She wanted to be completely and utterly alone, with only her raging thoughts to accompany her in the darkness.
It's all a lie. It has to be.
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