A/N: This is the final chapter. I hope you've enjoyed.
After a few glasses of water and a small bandage placed on Mira's shoulder, they sat down to find out the full story. Kaz sat in Mikey's lap as he recanted the tale. "I just thought they might want to play with me, but then they started throwing rocks at us. Mira grabbed me and we ran away."
Mira's head dropped another notch as he finished the story. Although everyone seemed to be proud of that she'd protected her cousin, she just felt bad. She recalled the look on the boys' faces when they'd spotted her and Kaz. It had been one of fear and disgust. She felt her mother's arm wrap around her. "Mira?"
The young turtle swallowed hard, not daring to meet her mother's perceptive gaze. "I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed." Without further comment she rose and went to her room.
Mikey frowned at Kaz. "You know better than to leave the lair, Kaz. You'll have to be punished for disobeying." The little turtle's expression dropped, it was rare for him to be reprimanded. "No TV for a week."
Kala nodded. "Yes and I think you should go straight to bed after supper." Kaz frowned but didn't protest.
As everyone starting getting up to leave, Yoshi turned in Cat's lap. "Kazzey's in trouble?"
Raph nodded. "Yeah, he went outside without permission. That's very bad."
"And very dangerous. You're never to go outside, Yoshi." Cat told the tot.
"Yeah, you could get lost like they did or worse hurt." Raph rubbed his little head. It worried him that Kaz had been able to slip out of the lair so easily.
Yoshi turned his bright green eyes to the hall. "Like Mira?"
Raph followed his gaze. "Mira was very lucky to only get a scratch. It could have been a lot worse."
Cat frowned as she watched Sarah walk down the hall with a pensive expression. "I don't know that it wasn't worse." Raph frowned understanding her meaning.
Sarah stopped outside of Mira's door. She stared at it for a long moment. "Sarah?" Donnie took her shoulders and turned her to face him. She looked away. He could feel her great worry. "What is it?"
"I've never sensed these types of emotions from her before. They're so…raw." She lifted her head to meet his gaze and there were tears pooled in the corners. "She's hurting."
Donnie sighed. He had a feeling he knew why. He opened Mira's door slowly. The youngster was sitting on the side of her bed. She wiped at her face, trying to hide the tears. He sat down beside her. "You were very quiet while Kaz told us what happened. Is there something you want to tell us?" She shook her head.
Sarah moved to stand at the foot of the bed. "What happened, Mira? Please tell us."
Mira didn't look up. "They were so mean."
Sarah frowned. "The human boys?" Mira nodded.
Donnie had dreaded this talk for so long, but now it was time to make her understand. "What did they say?"
Mira lifted her head just a little. "They called us freaks." She looked up at him. "Are we freaks, Daddy?"
"Oh, Mira…" Tears ran down Sarah's cheeks as she started to move towards their daughter.
But Donnie caught her hand. This had to be done. The truth wasn't pretty but it had to be said. "Mira, there are only seven of us in existence while there are over seven billion humans on Earth. To say the least we are an aberration. And humans fear and hate the things they think are abnormal. That's why we avoid them. It's also the reason we train as ninjas, to protect ourselves and our family."
Mira frowned, reading between the lines. "So, we are freaks."
Sarah pulled away from Donnie to sit on the other side of Mira and pull her into a hug. "No, you're not. You're my sweet, beautiful baby girl. And I'll knock anyone's teeth out that say otherwise."
More tears slipped from Mira's big brown eyes. "But…"
Sarah shook her head, holding her a little tighter. "You're unique. You all are. But that doesn't make you freaks, it makes you special. It makes your lives even more precisions and important than anyone else's."
Donnie smiled. Leave it to Sarah to make their differences sound so beautiful. "Come on, Mira. I want to show you something." He took her hand and led her from her room. He paused near the gate that led into the sewers.
Sarah nodded, understanding he wanted to be alone with Mira. She squeezed his hand then bent to place a kiss on Mira's head. "I love you, sweetie."
Donnie stroked Sarah's cheek, silently reassuring her before turning and stepping into the tunnel beyond. He climbed onto a sewer runner. Mira climbed on behind him. "Hold on tight."
She wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his shell. She closed her eyes trying to find the confidence she once had in her world, trying to understand why she had to be an outcast. She barely noticed when they came to a stop.
"Do you remember this place, Mira?"
She looked up at her father's voice, examining her surroundings for the first time. Some part her felt a familiarity with it, but she shook her head. "No, not really."
Donnie dismounted and guided her through the all too familiar entrance. The room before them was dark and empty. He smiled lightly as memories swamped him. "This used to be our home. This is the place where we grew up and you were hatched."
Mira gazed around. The space did seem familiar but in a very distant way. "Why did you bring me here?"
He put a hand on her shoulder. "So, I could remind you, you're not alone. We've been down the same paths as you. We've made the same mistakes too. We were reminded every day that we were different and that we should never go to the surface." He sighed remembering Splinter's many warnings. "We've tried to shield you from all that, Mira. We wanted you to grow up understanding the outside world but also understanding we are still separate from it."
She lowered her head. "Why don't humans like us? Aunt Cat and Aunt Amaya aren't like that. And neither are Mom and Aunt Kala."
"They are the exception, sweetheart. They are not the rule. We will never truly be accepted by the outside world."
"But if we are so different….why was I born?"
Donnie swallowed hard. Slowly he knelt and turned her to him. He cupped her round face. "You were born out of love, Mira. And you return that love a hundred fold every day. You are Mirakuru, a miracle. And I know this life will be hard for you for many, many reasons. But I also know that you can handle it. And remember we have already walked the road before you. And we will always be here to help guide you." He gave her a humorless smile. "We've been called freaks, monsters, lizards, and dozens of other things. But we don't let it get to us anymore. We've come to accept that people react like that out of ignorance." He squeezed her shoulders. "And you will have to learn to accept it as well. It is simply part of who and what we are."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and he felt his shoulder dampen with her tears. He held her tightly, allowing his words to seep into her and comfort her as best they could. After a few moments she leaned back, wiping away her tears. She looked around them. "Will you show me around, Daddy?"
Donnie smiled. "Of course." He stood and pulled out his flashlight. "This room was the living room."
"It's a lot smaller than the one at home."
He chuckled lightly. "Well, we have a lot more family than we did back when we lived here." He turned to the left and stepped into the doorway, Mira following. "This was my lab." Mira gazed at the two large consoles that remained. They were rusted out and covered in dirt and debris.
They walked through the rest of the old lair, exploring the old alcoves. Donnie told her stories when they'd come across a crack in the brick walls or burn mark on the ceiling. At last they came to the final room. He took a deep breath before stepping inside. He'd known it would be the hardest, but he hadn't realized it would still be just as heart wrenching as it had been the last time.
"What was this room?" Mira looked around as he moved the light about.
"It was the room your mother and I shared after we were married." He moved the light along the far wall and paused as something reflected on the floor. "What's that? I'm sure we went over this place thoroughly before we left."
They moved closer and he knelt to look beneath the pile of twisted metal that had once been the frame to Sarah's dressing screen. He could just make out something white beneath the grime. He passed the light to Mira as he stood. He took hold of the twisted metal frame and moved it to the side. The frame looked more like some kind of modern lawn art now than it did a dressing screen.
"What is it?" Mira asked as he knelt back down to remove the object from the layers of dirt. He couldn't help but chuckle. She wrinkled her beak in confusion. "Dad?"
He smiled as he turned the small porcelain plate over in his hand. "This is the second time I've rescued this little guy." It was astonishing but the trinket had somehow escaped any major damage. The only thing that marred its surface was the cracks that had been left from its repair more than fourteen years ago. "I know someone that will be very glad to see you." He stood, tucking it securely into his belt. He turned to his young daughter. "Are you ready to go home?"
She nodded as they headed back outside to the sewer runner. "Will things always be this hard, Daddy?"
He frowned. "You're growing up, Mira. And the older you get, the more you'll understand. Things will only get harder from here." He paused before mounting the runner to look down at her. "And I'm afraid things may be even harder on you than they were on me."
She blinked innocent eyes up at him. "Why is that?"
"Because, you'll not only be the one your cousins will look to for help due to your intelligence, but also because you'll be the eldest. They will look to you to show them the right way, just as your uncles and I still look to your Uncle Leo from time to time." He frowned. "It is a harder path than the one I had to walk, for that I'm sorry."
She shook her head. "No it won't, because I'll have all of your footsteps to walk in."
A/N: I hope you liked this little introspective of Growing Up Turtle, as it is. Please review. I'm working on the next fic but it might be a bit. So, Merry Christmas!
