A/N: Not much to say here. Honestly, I'm not a fan of Leorai. Honestly, I can't really stand it. But here you go. Hope it does the pairing justice. Let me know how you feel! ^_^
Never
"You!"
The way his heart constricted, the rafters might as well have crushed him where he stood. Perhaps they should have, should have saved him the trouble. But as it was the building remained sound (for a short while at least, before his brothers could work their *ahem* 'magic') and breathless, the prodigal son was hard pressed to fend off the advances that his heart urgently wished weren't absolutely lethal.
"I think-" a lucky sidestep- she could have gotten you there, Leonardo-" we are getting off- on the wrong... Foot, here!"
He meant to be clever, danced lightly before the woman. Theirs was an age-old dance; an endless tango across familial lines and vows of honor, of vengeance. Let her have the lead- he fought his heart's pounding with a greater ardor than he fended off the hasty slices. Stop the sword mid-swing- the blade was cold in his hands -pull her closer...
"We're trying to help you," he meant for it to be a whisper, something soft, something they shared not all that long ago, but he watched the black eyes harden with some deep form of hate he didn't care to categorize.
"Never."
And he remembered then, and he wished she hadn't reminded him. The word felt like a blow to the ribs, and he remembered the fateful words she'd spoken: the words he should have caught, the words that stripped them both bare and left them- left her more naked than he had, those years ago, that lifetime ago- the words that marked her from the beginning.
"Regrettably, fate is not the only master we must serve."
And he pursued
"Wait! The Shredder's dead!" How many times had he been dead before? Panic choked him. "Who are you working for?!"
But she left him: empty, as she always did.