Hi everyone. Here's the second chapter.
Thank you for everyone who was reviewed the first chapter, and for telling me about turtle sex determination. I'd like to give extra thanks to dondena, for letting me use a suggestion of hers from the review.
I hope you enjoy this second chapter. Read on!
Disclaimer: TMNT belong to Eastman & Laird.
Leo's Reflection
Chapter two
It, it can't be, thought Leo, still frozen on the couch. It just can't be.
Turning to look at his brother fearfully, he could tell that his brother was telling the truth. There wasn't anything in Donnie's eyes to suggest that he was lying.
"A-ar-are you really sure about this Don?" he asked slowly, still in shock. "You didn't just mix my sample with April's, did you?"
"Sorry, Leo." sighed the genius. "I've double checked the samples dozens of times today. You definitely have an XX pairing in your cells."
"But how?" cried Raph, who was trying his best to stay calm. "Isn't there anything else?"
"Well, I did carry out a few other tests to be sure." he admitted. "I've found hormones in Leo's blood that only female turtles would have."
"Is that it?" asked Mikey, "I mean, Leo's always had a thing for little kids, but I thought he, I mean she, just had a soft side. That doesn't mean she, I mean he, I mean - aarhhhhh, this is just too weird, My head hurts!" he shouted, putting his head in his hands.
"It's not just hormones, Mikey." said April, taking over once more. "I used to have a pet turtle when I was a kid, and now that I think about it, there are other things about Leo that suggest she is female."
"Like what?"
"Well, there's her plastron for a start." the redhead replied, pointing towards Leo's lower abdomen. "If you look closely, you can see it curving outwards slightly below the stomach, while it curve inwards with you guys."
Looking at the leader, the rest of the family realised that April was right. The curve wasn't obvious, but it was there.
"huh," said Raph. "I thought he was just putting on weight."
"Hey!" Leo cried out, now blushing. "I am not getting fat!"
"Is there anything else Donatello?" asked Master Splinter. Out of all of them, he seemed to be taking the news most calmly.
"Her tail's smaller as well." the purple turtle admitted. "Female turtles always have a shorter and thinner tail than males do."
"Hang on a second!" said Leo suddenly. "I thought turtles didn't even have sex chromosomes. How can I have an XX pairing when I'm a turtle?"
"Well, that is true." admitted Donnie. "But I have an idea about what may have happened. We were bought in a pet shop before the accident, right? Well, it's possible that Leo was picked up by the little boy's mother while the rest of us were held by the boy himself. Then when we were covered in ooze, the residual DNA from the two people could have merged with ours. Whether or not Leo was already female at that point, I don't think we'll ever know." (1)
"So, she might still have been a guy once?" asked the now thoroughly confused Mikey.
"It's possible, yes." replied his brother. "But the point is, Chromosomes aside, there's more than enough evidence to prove what April and I have found to be true. Leo is definitely a girl."
Before the others could say anything, Leo began to get up and walk away.
"I think I'm gonna go to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning."
"Are you ok Leo?" asked April. She quickly realised how stupid the question sounded. Why would Leo be ok? He just found out he was a she for god's sake!
"I'm fine," the younger girl replied quietly, surprising the others. "I just need to think about this for a little while." and with that the blue turtle went into her room, leaving her brothers and father to themselves.
In her room, Leo all but collapsed onto her futon, not even bothering to remove her katanas. Curling up slightly, she began to mull over the evening's revelation.
I just can't believe it. she thought to herself. All this time, how could I not see it? although she was still in shock, she was slowly beginning to see other clues to her gender that Donnie hadn't. As the four of them had been growing up, she'd noticed that her muscles didn't seem to grow as much as her brothers, despite having identical training patterns. This had made her slightly self-conscious, and was part of the reason why she now had extra training sessions, to catch up with the others.
Another sign was how she, unlike her brothers, never seemed to get excited when a woman showed up on tv in a swimsuit. Instead she'd taken more interest in certain male actors she liked. Knowing how traditional Master Splinter was about most things, Leo had kept this particular piece of info to herself, fearing the reaction he would give to one of his sons being gay. (2)
At least I don't have to worry about that now. she sighed. But now I've got three over-protective brothers to deal with. Joy. Getting up again to turn her light off, she hung her katanas on their stand, and returned to the futon. As she settled down to try and sleep, she reached under her pillows and pulled out a medium-sized teddy bear. The bear was sand coloured, had blue eyes and a little black and red bow tie round its neck. (3)
"I hope everything works out Kuma-chan," she said softly, hugging the bear close to her chest. "I don't want this to change things too much. I just hope the others see it that way too."
Even with Kuma-chan, sleep had not come easily to Leo. At most she had managed about 3 to 4 hours before she got up. That's why, when she was nursing a cup of sweet tea in the kitchen the next morning, she found herself wishing to be back in her bed. Unfortunately, years of self discipline and early morning classes had stripped her of her ability to sleep late. She had always believed in being up with the sun, but that never meant she was against the idea of a lie-in.
I wonder how the others are taking it… she mused. As if on cue, the rest of her family began to filter into the kitchen. As they all settled down to eat their breakfast, an uneasy silence fell on the clan. It was obvious to everyone what was on the others' minds.
"Well somebody say something!" Leo said at last, uncomfortable with the atmosphere. "We've gotta talk about this at some point."
"Aren't you upset?" asked Donnie, looking at his bro-sister surprised.
"Why would I be upset? It's not like I'm at a disadvantage or anything."
"But, you're a girl Leo!" said Raph, his voice slightly raised. Clearly he hadn't taken it too well. "Doesn't that mean anything to you? You could get hurt!"
"I could get hurt even if I was a boy, so I don't see any reason why that should matter. I mean, I'm still the same person, aren't I?"
"I think it's cool that we have a sister." smiled Mikey, happily munching his cereal. "There's a real plus side to it."
"What's that Mikey?" his new sister asked him curiously.
"Now I get to tease Raph about loosing to a girl all the time!" the jokester grinned excitedly. He was promptly wracked on the head by the said turtle, who was already irritated with him.
Leo smiled at her brother's comment. Some things just didn't change. "Seriously though, I don't see what the big issue is. Asides from being able to have kids, I don't feel that different about anything. So what's the point in being worried about it?"
Raph just went back to his food, grumbling to himself about the situation.
After breakfast, Leo went into the dojo to do her morning exercises. She liked to get some extra practice in before the day's training started. As she was halfway through a rather complicated kata, she heard her master enter the room. This surprised her a little; training wasn't supposed to start for another half hour at least.
"Leonardo," said the old rat. "Would you come with me for a few moments?"
"Yes, sensei." quickly finishing her kata, the blue turtle then followed her master to his room. As they entered, he motioned for her to sit down, before doing so himself.
"What is it master?" she asked Splinter.
"There is something I feel we should discuss, my child." the older ninja answered.
"Ok," said Leo, feeling a little unsure about the topic. "What should we discuss?"
"It is about Donatello's discovery last night, regarding your gender."
Of course, she thought to herself. I should have known he would want to talk about it at some point.
"I have been thinking that, given the circumstances, we may need to make a few small changes." Splinter continued. "If you feel it necessary, I could relieve you of some duties while you adjust to your new situation."
"Oh, there's really no need for that, sensei." the girl reassured him with a smile. "I don't think we need to worry about my ability to do anything just now."
"Very well then." said Splinter, still using the same calm tone.
"Is there anything else you want to talk about master?"
"Yes, that is. I realise that Leonardo may now be a little unsuitable." the rat replied. "Perhaps it would be good for you to use a more appropriate name."
This took Leo completely by surprise. Change my name? she thought. But why? And what to?
"Do you have a name in mind, Master Splinter?" she asked hesitantly.
"I thought you would like to keep your initial the same, so as a suggestion, I was going to propose Lillian, perhaps?"
Lillian? That's not me at all! she nearly cried. She honestly couldn't see herself as a Lillian. However, she didn't want to disappoint her master, or hurt his feelings, so instead she replied, "I, I think that sounds nice, master." (4)
"That is good to hear, my daughter." he smiled, before standing up. "Now, let us return to the dojo. Your brothers will be there for training very soon."
"Yes, Master Splinter."
The two of them walked out of the room and began making their way to the training area once more. As they walked, Leo, or rather Lillian couldn't help but feel unsure about their conversation. She just didn't feel comfortable with her new name. She hoped it was just from not having used it before, and that this would be the only change to her life. But at the same time, she couldn't help but think that thing were about to get a lot harder…
Ok, that was it, chapter two. A few things i'd like to point out:
1) This was the idea that dondena put in her review, for those who haven't seen it. Once again, thank you for letting me use it.
2) For the record, I am more than ok with people having same sex relationships. I just thought that, given Splinter's character, he wouldn't be the most likely to approve of this.
3) I couldn't resist giving Leo a plushie, it just sounded so cute! I based the bear's design off one that my used to have. The name Kuma-chan is based on the Japanese word kuma, meaning bear. Yes, I know, poor choice in names.
4) Please don't hate me for this. Rest assured the name Lillian will not be permanent. that issue will be resolved by the end of the fic, along with one or two others I have in mind. I picked the name at random from a list of girl's names starting with L, so if any of you are called Lillian, please don't read into it.
Now that that's sorted, I'll leave you with that for now. I may be longer with chapter 3; half-term break has just finished, so I will be slowed down by homework (cries).
Remember, any flames sent will be used to roast marshmallows and other tasty camping snacks.
AJ Tomb Raider