Chapter # 2 All Turtles on Deck
"I can't believe we're doing this. What's wrong with buying a ticket like normal people instead of stowing away in the baggage compartment of the ship like some criminal?" Emily exclaimed in bewilderment.
"We can't afford it for one thing," Donatello told his wife.
She and the other wives hadn't realized that by going to Japan, the turtles had their own way of traveling. The kids on the other hand thought that being sneaky and secretive was the ultimate adventure.
"I'd thought you'd be happy traveling turtle style," said Mikey.
"Maybe she would if it didn't mean that she had to be here before the sun came up," his wife, Faye remarked
She knew Emily wasn't always the best morning person. Actually, unlike Faye, Emily was never a morning person. If it weren't for Don, Faye wasn't sure how Emily would make it to the school Library for work every day. He had been her wake up call in that way and more sense even before they were married.
Emily was Faye's best friend sense they were practically in diapers. They had grown up together, done everything together, and now married and had children with ninja turtle brothers together. They had now become good friends with Michelle and Rebecca too, but Faye and Emily would always have something special.
"Why did we have to get up so early?" whined Jane as she rubbed her sleepy brown eyes.
"Because we don't want anyone to know that we're here," Logan yelled in answer.
"Quiet," Leo ordered with a hidden smile in the bleak darkness. Logan only had had one volume of speech, and that was loud.
Leonardo and Raph were watching the ship's workers load the cargo, waiting for their opportunity to come aboard.
"Man, are these guys ever going to leave?" Raph grumbled.
"Ok," Leo turned toward his family, still keeping careful watch out of the corner of his eye," we only get one shot at this. "Remember to keep to the shadows and don't make a sound."
Another few minutes went by as they waited and watched, but soon everyone seemed to disappear on board the ship. The horn sounded their departure.
"Now!" Leo shouted in a whispered.
All four turtles, their children, and their wives scurried from their hiding place. They quickly hid themselves amongst the shadows of cargo and other supplies once they were all on board the ship that would take then to Japan.
"Welcome to advanced training," Leo said in the darkness as they felt the ship pull out of the harbor.
"Is the ship going to rock like this all the way there?" Jane asked.
"You'll get used to it soon," her mother told her.
"I'm hungry," said Logan.
"Me too," agreed his twin brother Andy. "I want something to eat."
The first lesson in training practice that morning was getting breakfast in a large crowd without being seen. Denver, Dalton, Dakota, Franklin, and Alex all accompanied the four turtles while the younger children stayed behind with the women and hidden.
Delicious smells filled the air upon entry to the dining hall. The generous buffets were loaded with many sweet treats, fruits, and meats.
"Look at all the wonderful things to eat," exclaimed Franklin.
"What shall we get," asked Alex.
"Anything you can carry and keep hidden easily," Leo answered. "This is the real thing. The four of us are going to split up, but each of you must come with one of us. I know this is your first time to try to do this outside the dojo, so try to choose something small and simple. Whatever you do, don't get caught."
"Why is it so important we stick the shadows and all that jazz, we're humans," remarked Dalton.
"What do you plan to do when someone wants to know where your parents are?" replied Alex. Leo nodded his approval to his daughter, and then they all were off.
At first they all followed Leo along the shadowed walls to a back, dark corner where a stack of "to-go" boxes were. Leo quickly tossed one to each member of his clan before splitting up. Franklin and Denver both went with Don to a table filled with cereal and yogurt, juice, milk, and fruit. Next to the table, Don spotted a little waffle cart. That's what he would get for Emily for breakfast. His wife loved waffles.
"Pssst. Don." Don looked down. Mikey and Alex were under the table. "Leo said that the kids can only have fruit, yogurt, or cereal to eat, nothing to heavy."
"Why?" Franklin whispered in protest. "I want some waffles."
"Because our bodies are still getting used to the rocking of the boat, and heavy eating could make us sick right now," Alex told him gently. "You can have waffles another time."
"Oh, ok," replied Franklin glumly. Don patted his son's shoulder.
Alex could see her father, uncle, and other cousins crouched on the pipes in the ceiling. She saw his signal, and suggested that if they were finished they should leave.
"Mommy, I got this," Nathan told Michelle when they had returned. He held out the little container of yogurt his sister had gotten him to show his mother. "I love yogurt," he said happily.
Leo walked over to his wife. "I thought you might like some French toast," Leo old her. He was trying to make it up to her for the short notice of their trip. All of the turtles were.
Leo had met Michelle at a costume party one spooky Halloween evening shortly after he had returned from South America. He had become separated from his brothers, and when Leo had gone to look for them, hoping to find them before they could get into any real trouble, he had come upon Michelle, drunk and puking her guts out in the bushes.
After chasing off some punks who attempted to harm her, Leo took Michelle to her apartment where he took care of her until she sobered up the next morning.
Maybe it was a slight linger of alcohol, but for whatever reason, Michelle never showed any sign of being fearful on the blue clad, ninja turtle. Instead, she asked Leonardo why he hadn't taken advantage of her. Leo replied that it was against his ninja code of honor, ethics, and how his father had raised him and his brothers.
The two had talked all morning long, and Leo knew he would be in big trouble when he returned home. He humbly admitted this to Michelle and she had given him a kiss for courage. Leonardo had returned to the sewers facing a very angry sensei, and giving off the aroma that he was for the first time in heat. Master Splinter had ended practice early that day so that he could have a long father-to-son talk with his four turtles. Leonardo never once thought about Karai again from that day on, only Michelle.
Faye was enjoying roasted chicken and vegetables that Mikey had picked up from the lunch buffet. Don had chosen the same for Emily as the two best friends still often did and shared the same things.
Raph had gotten some burgers for Rebecca, which unfortunately had caused an allergic reaction when he failed to notice the pickles it contained. It was strange that Raph hadn't remembered that his wife was allergic to pickles because the mob boss that was responsible for the two meeting just happened to be known by the name, "Pickles."
All of the children had chicken nuggets and carrots for lunch.
Conversation was conducted in the Japanese language the same as it had been at breakfast, with translations and corrections for those who needed it.
"Samoshii means selfish," Franklin told his sister, Jane. "You're samoshii because she drank all the Kool-Aid."
Jane began to sob. "Daddy, Franklin's calling me selfish, and saying that I drank all the Kool-Aid."
"Franklin, apologize to your sister," Don said.
Franklin stuck his tongue out at Jane. She drank all the Kool-Aid and now she was getting him in trouble.
"Franklin, if you continue to act ugly, you will take a nap with the younger children instead of having play time," Donatello warned his son.
Franklin moped. Sorry, Jane for saying those things."
"In Japanese, the word sorry is sumimasen," Jane reminded him.
"Sumimasen," Franklin muttered.
After lunch, the children practiced their history and worked on writing their kanji with the guidance of Donatello.
Later, the kids were each given a piece of fruit for a snack. Jane and Jillian sat in the corner eating their grapes and talking to their stuffed animals, Mr. Cuddles and Humphrey. Alex soon joined them after she got everyone some water to drink. The three of them pretended to be wealthy ladies on a cruise ship having a tea party.
Nathan sat in Leo's lap, eating an apple and spilling his water all over his father.
The other boys almost got their snack taken away from them because they wouldn't stop fighting with their bananas.
"I hope we're there soon," said Logan. "I'm ready to get off this boat."
The turtles chuckled. "It's only been one day," Mikey told his son. "We still have many more to go."
Dinner that night consisted of fresh salads for the adults and macaroni & cheese for the kids.
"I really don't like stealing from the paying guests on board," Emily voiced her opinion.
"Hey, we pay," Don told her.
"Yeah, we don't steal," said Mikey.
"We left some cash there," said Leo. "There is no limit to how much food you can get, or where you can eat it."
"Besides, most of it gets dumped instead of eaten anyway, so it's not like it's going to be missed," Raph said.
Sometimes it was hard to understand the life style of a mutant, ninja turtles.