A/N: So, I hope everyone is happy Bound is back. I've only got one review so far. Thank you, Moltonstorm!
They hadn't been there long when the rest of the family arrived back from the shop. K-three, Yoshi, Kaz, and Shinta coaxed April onto a blanket and lifted her easily. She gripped Yoshi and K-three's shoulders with white knuckles as they began to ascend the stairs.
Leo could see how nervous she was. "Easy guys."
Shinta snickered. "What's the matter Aunt April? Don't trust us?"
Her grip tightened on K-three and he chuckled. "I guess not."
"Uh…well…it's just that…" She stammered.
A round of chuckles went through the group and she folded her arms with a small pout.
Yoshi smiled at her. "You know we'd never let you fall."
She sighed as they came to the last set of steps. "I know. It just feels weird being carried up the stairs."
Kaz smirked. "Think of it as your chariot, princess." April glared and wanted to swat his arm, but didn't dare move. She was already in a precarious position. Her expression only made Kaz laugh harder as they came onto the top floor.
Donnie had gone ahead of them and was talking to Mira as they neared the room that was to be April's. "You've done really well so far." He gestured to the shaft she and K-three had cut into the three floors for the elevator. "And it was a good idea to put in some additional supports here." He indicated the bracing boards along the side of the shaft. The two had made a good deal of progress in the span of a day.
"We were thinking we could just use a cage instead of an enclosed car this time. It would be lighter and it's not like anyone but us will be using it." Mira told him.
Don nodded, glancing over his shoulder at Sarah, who stopped near the stairs to rub a knee. "Yeah, that would be faster too." He sighed softly, his gaze returning to his daughter. "It's probably past time we put one of these in." He put an arm around her with a small smile. "Thanks, sweetheart."
She smiled when he kissed the top of her head. "I was just following your schematics."
"And she did have help." K-three said with a smirk as he stepped back out of April's room.
Don chuckled lightly as his wife came to stand with them. "I'm sure she did. And it's looking good. Leo and I'll help you out tomorrow."
"I can help too, if you need it." Sarah offered. Don frowned and she felt a touch of concern and protectiveness pass through the bond.
He shook his head slowly. "You have enough to do, love, with April here. We can go scavenge the rest of what we'll need from that building that was demolished a few days ago. It won't take more than a few days for us to get it functional."
Sarah frowned but didn't object. Her list of chores had just grown to nearly double with April's arrival. She sighed softly. "Okay."
He smiled, squeezing her hand. "It's been a long day already."
She nodded. "You get April settled in. I'll start dinner." She pecked his cheek before walking off.
After getting April situated and explaining her meds and therapy, Don headed back to his lab. Mira and K-three had decided to continue working until dinnertime. As he neared his lab, Mikey appeared. "Hey, Don, could I talk to you, bro?"
Seeing the stress lines in his brother's features, Donatello knew something was up. "Sure, what's going on?"
"I want you to take a look at Kala." Mikey said flatly.
Don frowned deeply. "She still has a cough?"
"Yeah. I mean, it comes and goes but sometimes it's really bad. I think there might be something worse going on."
Don rubbed his chin as he sat in his rolling chair. "It's been, what, more than a year since it started?"
Mikey sat in another chair, his head down. "Nearly two."
"It does sound like it could be more than a cold or allergies. Is she okay with an exam?"
Mikey shook his head again. "I don't care if she is or not anymore." He pulled a tissue from his belt and held it out to his brother. "I found this in the trash this morning."
Don took it, his eyes widening. "Mikey, she's coughing up blood! How long has this been going on!"
Mikey didn't look at him. "I don't know. I think she's been hiding it from me."
"Hey, Dad." Kaz stepped into the doorway and Mikey shot Don a look. Donnie closed his hand around the tissue, hiding it. But Kaz caught the look. "Is everything okay?"
Mikey smiled and waved a hand. "Yeah, me and Don were just talking."
Kaz frowned, not fully convinced. He decided against pressing the issue though, he had more important things to take care of. "I was just going to let you know, me and Ona are going out tonight. Just in case you start wondering where we are."
Mikey gave him a knowing smile. "Had a fight, huh?"
Kaz blushed a bit. "Yeah, sorta."
"Better make it right then." Mikey held a distant look in his eyes. "You gotta remind them how important they are sometimes." His gaze shifted to the floor as memories returned to him of a broken and battered Kala.
Kaz raised an eye-ridge. "Okay…. Well, we'll probably be back late."
"Have fun." Don smiled warmly.
Kaz returned it. "We will."
When he was gone, Don looked back at the blood-stained tissue. "I'll run some test on this, see if I can get anything off it. But I'm still going to need to see her. We need to take some x-rays and maybe some ultra-sounds." He reached across the space between them to put a hand on Mikey's arm. "We'll figure this out, bro."
Mikey swallowed hard, fighting the sting of tears. "Thanks, Donnie."
Kaz pushed open his bedroom door, feeling the oddness of his conversation with his father still clinging to him. "You ready, babe?"
"Yeah." Ona stepped from their bathroom wearing a sleek black dress that hugged her curves with a thin gray cardigan on top. "I hope I didn't overdress."
His eyes lit as they followed her curves, finally resting on her dark brown eyes. He moved towards her like he was being pulled by a magnet. "No, it's perfect." He played with a lock of pink that framed her face. "You're perfect."
She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're such a smooth talker."
He chuckled lightly, his own arms slipping around her slim waist. "Babe, with you I don't even have to try, because it's all true."
He captured her mouth with his and her scent spiked. He fought down the desire to talk her into staying home after all. This was a night for her - to remind her just how much she meant to him and how much he needed her. His grip tightened as he deepened the kiss. She was precious and wonderful. She was his world.
Ona stepped back, panting softly. "We better go, before I change my mind."
He grinned. "I was thinking the same thing."
She giggled as he took her hand and they headed downstairs. Yoshi and Star were snuggled up on one couch while Shinta sat on another. Yoshi raised an eye-ridge. "You guys goin' out?" Lately the two couples had been double dating a lot, but Kaz hadn't mentioned anything about tonight.
"Yeah, see ya later." Kaz opened the front door, letting Ona step out before him as he turned his holo on.
When they were gone, Yoshi glanced down at Star. "I guess they made up."
"Looks like it." She leaned into him. "I'm glad too. Ona's sweet."
"Kaz can be an idiot at times, but he's good to her and she's good for him too." Yoshi said sincerely.
"He's not the only idiot around here." Shinta teased.
Yoshi snorted and Star snickered. "That's okay, 'cause I'm used to this big idiot now."
"Hey!" Yoshi barked, but there was no real malice behind it. "Who you callin' an idiot!" In a flash, he had her pinned to the couch as his hands deftly tickled her sides.
Star squealed, trying desperately to fight off the large turtle. "I….I….I give!" She choked out between fits of laughter.
Yoshi smirked. "That's better. Now say you're sorry." Instead, she stuck her tongue out at him. His eyes narrowed mischievously. "I got better things you can do with that tongue." Without further ado, his mouth crashed down on hers. She had absolutely no desire to fight him as her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer.
Shinta groaned, rolling his eyes. "Really?" He stood, tossing the remote down and heading up the stairs.
Yoshi rose up to watch his young cousin disappear. "What was that about?"
Star pulled at his mask tails, bringing his attention back to her. "Right now, I don't honestly care." Her breath was hot on his neck, making him shiver. Whatever Shinta's problem was, it could wait for a little while longer.
Wikoli Hale frowned at the little hole-in-the-wall restaurant. It wasn't much to look at, but it was decent enough. The people around him were dressed neatly and were holding low conversations. The room was lit mainly by candles on the tables, giving one a feeling of anonymity, which he preferred. He was here on business. The kind he didn't want people snooping into. Not that anyone here would know him. This city was far from his home island of O'ahu and quite frankly he was ready to get back. There he was a big fish in a small pound, but here there were way too many sharks.
He'd just received his food, when a young couple entered. They were seated not far from him. As he ate, he watched them. There was something familiar about them. He frowned to himself as he watched them being lovey-dovey. The young man was playfully feeding the young woman with his chopsticks. The more he watched the more the girl seemed to remind him of someone. He squinted. If she were younger, thinner, no highlights and no smile... He almost dropped his fork, when the pieces finally fit.
Kaz chuckled as he teased Ona with another bite of orange-glazed chicken. She finally grabbed his hand and stuffed the piece in her mouth. "If you're going to feed me, then feed me." She mumbled around the food, before swallowing. "Because I'm hungry."
His laugh increased and he gave her a sly grin. "Oh, I bet you are."
She shoved his shoulder playfully with a laugh of her own. "You're so bad, Kazzey!"
"I can't help it, if you drive me crazy, babe." He leaned close, nuzzling his beak into the crook of her neck. She closed her eyes, ignoring the holo-image and reveling in the familiar feel of his skin against hers.
It wasn't long before they'd eaten most of their food. "I'm going to make a pit stop before we leave." Kaz stood. "I'll be right back."
She rolled her eyes at his overprotectiveness. "I'll be fine. I'll wait for you here."
He gave her nose a little tweak. "Alright." He chuckled when her eyes crossed to see the offended appendage.
She rolled her eyes again as he walked off. Kaz was genuinely trying to make up for their disagreement that morning. She half frowned, playing with a lone pea with her chopsticks. She still, however, wanted to talk about a baby. It wasn't like them having a baby would harm her. She understood the process and had seen it done with Katsu. They would draw a little of her blood and a little of Kaz's, and Don or maybe Mira would combine it and place it in a turtle egg. Then it would grow in the incubator. It seemed simple enough and it obviously worked. After all, there were five of them that had been created using the very same method.
She sighed. Maybe it wasn't that he was scared of the process. Maybe it was something else. Maybe he… Her head came up as someone sat across from her at the table. She frowned at the man with a tattoo curling down one side of his neck. "Can I help you?"
He continued to stare at her for a long moment and she fidgeted.
"I think you have the wrong table. My husband will be back in a minute. We'll be leaving, if you need this table." She watched him lean on the table with a curious expression.
"You don't know who I am?" He asked after a long moment.
She frowned. What kind of question was that? "No, should I?"
Wikoli leaned back. For an instant, he thought perhaps he'd made a mistake, but then he saw the scar along her neck. "Malani?"
Again she frowned at him. "I don't know who you are, or who Malani is. But you need to leave before my husband comes back."
He pointed a finger at her. "You are Malani."
She shook her head. "My name is Ona. Ona Hamato."
The man shook his head. "No, I know you. I wasn't completely certain at first but now I am. You are Malani Rivers."
Ona stared at him. Was he insane? Or was it possible he really knew who she was? Her adoptive family had told her they had found nothing on her, that they couldn't find her real name or anything else. She had simply accepted it, because she'd wanted to stay with Kaz. But that didn't mean she hadn't existed before her memory had been wiped. And this man was telling her, he knew her. She gave him a sidelong look. "You're saying you know me? And you think I'm this Malani Rivers person?"
His eyes glowed in the dim candle light. "I don't think. I know."
There was rough clearing of a throat and Wikoli looked up to see the young man standing behind Ona. Kaz narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me, but what do you think you're doing?" He stared at the stranger for a long moment, an image slowly floating back to him of a younger man.
Ona looked up at him. "Kazzey, this man says he knows me. He-"
"We're leaving." He half pulled her from her chair, his eyes never leaving the man.
Ona's eyes widened. "But Kazzey, if he knows me, shouldn't we-"
"No." Kaz growled, glaring daggers at the man. "He's mistaken."
"No, I'm not." Wikoli leaned back in his chair with an arrogant smirk. "She might not remember me, but I remember her. And now that she knows that I know, she's gonna want to know more about who she is."
Kaz's growl increased. "Who she is, is my wife."
Wikoli looked past Kaz at Ona. "He doesn't want you to know who you were. But if you want to know, I'll tell you. I'll be here through the end of the week and I'll leave my number with the bartender."
Kaz outright snarled. "She doesn't need anything from you!" He turned back to Ona, gripping her shoulders firmly. "Wait for me outside."
Her eyebrows shot into her hairline. "What!"
He cupped her cheeks. "Ona, babe, please."
She could feel him trembling all over. She glanced between the two males one more time, confused by what was going on. At last she relented. Her heart knew her anchor. "Okay…okay." She pecked his cheek. "I'll be outside."
Kaz watched her go and waited three whole heartbeats before turning back to the man. Before Wikoli could blink, Kaz had him out of his chair and pinned against the wall. "I know who you are, you bastard, and I know what you did to her!" He hissed low and fierce. "And if you so much as think about coming anywhere near her again, I will kill you!" He planted a fist in Wikoli's stomach for good measure, making the man doubleover. "And I don't make idle threats." Kaz turned and stormed out the restaurant.
A/N: Ha! You tell 'em Kazzey! Hehe! So, hey I've got a question. Do you think I should take the epilogue off "A Never Ending Bond?" Do you think it would confuse people to leave it? I did put a note on it about the series continuation, but I'm still not sure...