TMNT The Glasses of Life

Chapter Four

It took the group almost the rest of the day to reach Kennedy's lake house. The boat ran out of gas while on the water, so they were forced to swim the rest of the way. Under normal circumstances, it was not a far swim, but considering their conditions… it felt like a lot longer than two hours. Mikey nearly drowned a few times. He was up front with Kennedy now. Leo got tangled up in a seaweed garden and was almost pulled under. Lucky Karai's fangs could easily bite through the tough weed. They swam and swam until they were sure they were lost.

"When are we going to get to your house?" Raph complained from further back.

"When you stop asking," Kennedy retorted. The lake was cold for a summer night, the turtles were starting to look more blue than green, and now that Kennedy thought about it, so was Karai. Kennedy was starting to feel the chill nip at her toes and fingers as well. She looked around at the scenery to take her mind off the chill. Though uncomfortable, the view was beautiful. She had always liked lakes, whether she was swimming in them, painting them, or designing houses near them, they made nice backgrounds.

"H-hey," Mikey chattered. "W-what's th-that?" he pointed a shaking finger at a large shadow further back in the forest. Kennedy nodded to herself.

"I think we just found my house," Kennedy said, and swam towards the shadow.

"It's about time!" Raph spat. It was Kennedy's lake house. The group swam past the bouquet of lily pads towards the red roofed shelter. It was the biggest house most of them had ever seen. It had a deck that was half its size and a hot tub floating in the lake patch near the house. They crawled out of the murky water looking like swamp monsters.

"F-follow me," Kennedy chattered and stalked up the steps of the deck. The others followed her. She stuck her hand under the door mat and pulled out a key.

"Y-you didn't take the key… with you?" Karai asked. Kennedy shrugged her nonchalant shrug.

"Why would I? This place is in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere." That shut every one up as Kennedy unlocked the door. They entered the living room. Pretty decent if Kennedy did say so herself. She had stuck to neutral shades, mostly, with the occasional burgundy or teal on the pillows and curtains. White walls, hardwood floors with a nice burgundy mat in between the two couches, a table on the mat, shelves surrounding the room. And a fire place. Kennedy rushed to it and immediately flicked the on switch. All nine bodies huddled around the warmth while Kennedy scavenged the house for blankets. She found some spare ones in her bedroom closet and dragged them out to her shivering allies. She draped one over Casey, Donnie and April, one over Splinter, Mikey and Raph, one over Leo and Karai, and one for Tyler and herself. They sat in front of the flames for a long time. During that time, Kennedy could not get over the fact that she'd let the hockey barbarian into her house. She saw April's head on his shoulder. Donnie had moved to Splinter and Raph's blanket. Good, I'm not the only one who hates him… she refused to think about kindergarten, refused to think about what he had done.

"…I cannot stay, Kenny. I must leave, to protect you, and your friends," whispered Tyler. Kennedy did not look at him. She knew he would say that, and she knew he was right. If he stayed, it would make it easier for Shredder to destroy his enemies, easier for him to kill her now that she'd made an enemy of him.

"You can for one night. You can stay until you're not blue, okay?" she watched Tyler ponder. He nodded.

"Fine. One night, I leave tomorrow."

"Midnight. No earlier." Technically it was tomorrow, but Kenn didn't feel like arguing about it.

"Midnight," Tyler agreed.

After a five hour nap in a huddle in front of the fireplace, Kennedy had forced herself to wake up and prepare some brunch. She could feel her stomach groping itself for notorious and judging by the uproar of everyone else's gut, they were getting hungry too. Kennedy's lake house kitchen was very retro. It wasn't exactly a gourmet chef's kitchen, but she hadn't budgeted for one. It was decent compared to the one at her old shack, at least she could fit a four chair table in this one.

Kennedy carried a plate of pancakes to the table, placing it in front of the sliced bananas, strawberries and raspberries and beside the plate of bacon. She would set up the BLT station on her counter when she cleaned the dirty dishes off of it. Kennedy's impression brunch was always a lot of hard work, laboring over the stove, but it always tasted delicious when complete. And now she could actually make the full amount she had written in her recipe due to the extra nine mouths to feed. Her brunch consisted of pancakes, freshly chopped fruit and veggies, BLT's, trail mix, garlic bread, buns and butter, cheese platter, two heart-shaped pizzas (those were always fun), a plate of mochi, a plate of macaroons, and a strawberry pastry cake. It was above and beyond, but then again, so was Kennedy. She exited the kitchen and shook Tyler's shoulder. He snorted and yawned.

"Kenny?" he asked groggily.

"Help me wake everyone up," she commanded softly. She and Tyler aroused their allies and moved them onto both couches, the bed-couch, as Kennedy called it, was reserved for Splinter and herself, possibly Tyler unless he took the floor, as he usually did. "Okay guys," she knew they were only half listening. "I made some brunch for us," that got the attention of every eye in the room. "Now, I will warn you all to take it easy on the food, it's been a long time since our last meal, you eat too much, you're cleaning up your own vomit, capishe?" the heads bobbed. Kennedy took that as a nod. "Okay, does anyone have any food allergies in here?" Donnie raised his hand. "Peanuts?" he nodded. "Lucky I anticipated that, everything's peanut free." He put his arm down again. "Okay, without further ado, dig in," Kennedy murmured with about as much enthusiasm as a trip to the ER would bring.

It didn't take long for both pizzas to be devoured, without care of what crumbs may fall where. Mikey sure does love his pizza, Kennedy though as he tackled Tyler for the last piece. She had raised his arm with the pizza slice and said: one, two, three! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! That had gotten a laugh out of most and a suspended chuckle from Leo. The next to go was the mochi. Kenn only made it because it was Karai's favourite dessert, but she had not known that Tyler and Splinter shared a fondness for the treat. Not to mention her mildly creepy obsession with the dessert. One disappearance led to another, and by three o'clock, all plates and bowls were empty and being washed by Kennedy, Karai and Tyler. The others were occupying the couches, flipping through channels on Kennedy's big screen TV. They had to be instructed on how to use the remote, an enter button was futuristic to the turtles.

When they were done, Kennedy, Karai and Tyler joined the others. Karai sat next to Splinter, and Kennedy and Tyler sat on the rug closest to the TV. They weren't into the whole, dog-pile their friends had going on. Apparently neither was Leo or his bad leg, because after about 30 minutes, he wrestled his way off the couch and tried to sit next to Kennedy.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa dude, sitting on a hardwood floor with a broken leg? I don't think so," said Kennedy. Karai knew what she was going to say, and got off of the spot beside Splinter. Kennedy lifted a brow. "I was just gonna ask you to scooch over, but that works too." She lead Leo over to Splinter and tried to make him sit.

"I'm fine, Kennedy, will you quit babying me already? Karai, it's okay, you don't have to move," he said gently.

"Kennedy's right Leo, it's not good for your leg. Until she gets a chance to heal it, you've got to be extra careful with it." Karai was not used to being spoken to so softly, it almost scared her. Leo shook his head.

"Still, you don't have to move, it's fine-"

"Oh my Gaskubaffa, will you two just-?" Kennedy pushed Leo onto Karai's spot and sat Karai beside him. "There, sharing is caring, remember. Do not make me come back over here," she warned playfully and plopped next to Tigerclaw again. Karai and Leo sat stiffly while Kennedy shuffled through the channels.

"…So… how did you and Kennedy meet?" Karai was slow to take his attempt to break the ice.

"We… well, we were both fleeing from the Kraang… and Shredder…" she shuddered. "She saved me from the bots. Healed me up and gave me shelter for the night. I guess she felt bad for me or something… one thing lead to another and, before we knew it, we were best friends." Karai hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin on her arm. "We like a lot of the same things," she said. Leo turned himself towards her as best he could.

"Like what?" Karai didn't answer. "I-I mean… we're family now," Karai flinched at the word. "But, well, we know so little about each other." Leo waited for her to show a sign that she'd heard him. She nodded slightly. Leo looked away. "… Sorry, if you don't want to talk, I'll leave you alone." Karai lifted her head and looked at him.

"It's alright. Look, any other day I would but… it's kinda been a long day…" Leo nodded.

"Yeah." Both turned their attention to the cartoon Kennedy had selected. Looney Tunes, Karai recalled. It was the barber episode with Elmer and Bugs singing and the random chase scenes. The only episode Karai had seen before. Several episodes later, it was 9:00pm and everyone was exhausted.

"Okay, I officially cannot stay awake any longer," Kennedy announced. Everyone else nodded.

"I'm so tired, I could sleep on a bed of Shredder's helmets," Mikey mumbled.

"Well you're in luck, because that's what the guest beds are," Kennedy teased, however she had to explain the joke to a very confused Mikey. "Okay, I have five bedrooms in this house, however one is used as an office. Luckily I have a couch-bed in their…" she glanced at the crowd. "… Donnie I think you'd like it, follow me." She'd meant for only Donnie to follow her, but everyone else did. Well, all except Casey and Splinter, who had passed out on both couches hours ago. Kennedy opened the office's door. It was a splitting image of Donatello. Purple walls and blinds, shelves and books as far as the eye could see, a very organised desk, and a small purple bean bag behind the desk. There was a purple and white stripped couch with two pillows against the far wall.

"And, that's not all," Kennedy said, and approached the couch. She lifted the cousin and it extended. A pull-out couch. Donnie was out before she could find the blankets to cover him. Kennedy lifted a brow and smiled. "You know, he's kinda cute when he's exhausted," she said, oblivious to April's stay away from him glare behind her. She turned and closed the door softly behind her.

"Raph, Mikey, there's a double room bedroom here that I think suits you two perfectly. Follow me." Once again, Kennedy led the group down the hall a bit and opened another door. It revealed a very bright yellow room with a couch, a bed, a table, a rocking chair and a mini flat screen TV on the wall across from the start of the bed. Mikey's jaw dropped. "I was going to make it a media room, but I didn't have any black paint," Kennedy said. Mikey jumped onto the bed and nuzzled into the pillow. He was snoring softly. Kennedy crept to a door in the room. She opened it and motioned for the rest to follow her. There was a closet that connected the two rooms. Raph's room was a bit on the girly side, but it was red and the bed was comfy, so, he didn't complain.

Kennedy, Karai, Leo and April crept out and moved on to a room Kennedy said she would let April use. Leo was eyeing her the entire time. He still didn't trust her, but he had to admit, she was a girl of many resources. A gigantic lake house? A kunoichi? A former sue chef? A genius? An artist? What can't you do? "Now I know the room is a tad small, but bear with me here."

"Kennedy, I am so past small bedrooms. As long as the bed is an actual bed, your work is done," April said. Kennedy smiled.

"Thank God," she said and opened the door. A multi coloured bed and pillows, a shelf next to the bed, and a small bed stand with a lamp beside the bed. It wasn't Buckingham palace, but April seemed content. Kennedy softly closed the door and looked at Leo. "Your turn, blue."

"My name's Leonardo," he said with an edge of annoyance. Kennedy shrugged.

"And Karai's name is Karai, but I still call her Nutmeg, don't I?" she motioned for the duo to follow her back down the hall. She approached a door she'd passed earlier. "Welcome, friend," she said. Leo entered. The room was rather bland, the walls were beige and the tile was a dull peach hue. Bright blue pillows, curtains and a folded blanket on the edge of the bed was all that stood out. However, the room was fairly big. He took another step in. Karai watched him limp towards the bed. She saw Kennedy glance at her, and looked away. "I can probably heal your leg tomorrow at some point," Kennedy offered. Leo looked up at her, then made a small smile and shook his head.

"Thanks Kennedy, but, I kind of want to let it heal naturally." Karai lifted a brow. Really? Even after all she's done, he still didn't trust her? Karai would have said something, but Kennedy cut her off before she got the chance.

"Okay dude. I just want to end your suffering, make it easier for you to… beat the Shredder, you know?"

"The easy way out is never the answer," Leo said, and averted his eyes from her. Kennedy shrugged her nonchalant shrug.

"Whatever dude." She and Karai left him and retreated to the room they would share. The entire theme of the room was blue. Deep, deep blue walls, blue beds, blue shelves, blue lamps. "That one's yours," Kennedy pointed to a rather princess-y looking bed to her right. Karai climbed into the bed and let its warmth abduct her into the world of her dreams. Kennedy watched and smiled. Her thoughts floated around in her brain. Memories of her mother and father pushing her on the swings at the park, of Sensei Cliff and Tyler watching her progress as she beat on the punching bag they had, of the cruise rid to Canada with Trinity, of the coach bus drive to New York, to her admirable mark of 98% in writer's craft back in grade 10. Writers craft was a grade 12 class. She still remembered how the first chapter of her story went, the story she'd earned a 92% on.

I was 11 years old the first time I cried. It was for a good solid reason, not because of a sad ending to a movie, or a dead cat on the street, or some bastard saw fit to call my mom a rat blower.

Angle and I were stalking down the streets of our gloomy little town when we saw it.

"Aw, c'mon, Gare, you were totally checking her out!" she teased. Angle was 15 years old, four years my senior, but my age at heart. My father thought her a cougar when I first introduced them to each other. But she was nothing of the sort, Angle was… well, an angle. Her real name was Bridgett, Bridgett Lotus Campbell. She had earned the nickname Angle back in elementary school. She'd been the only one to never get on our bitchy principles bad side.

"Nah, her rack was no angle," I retorted with a wink. Angle blushed and punched my arm.

"This is why your dad thinks we're fucking," she said. I laughed and shoved her. She was never much of a girly-girl, and we had gotten into our fair share of fist fights. She'd win most. I won two.

"Hey, it's not my fault you're so hot you make Heatran's beg for mercy." It was a Pokémon reference that only Angle could find sweet. She was as much of a geek as I was, maybe even more. She rolled her eyes and shoved me back.

"Go screw," she said, defeated, and looked at the alley she was closest to. I wiggled my eyebrows.

"Your place or mine, babe?" I was only flirting, she knew that. We knew we were too far apart in age for each other, but that didn't mean we couldn't play around. Besides, Angle liked someone else, some Goth boy in her English class named Lucifer. I always teased her about the irony. Angle instantly froze. I stopped and looked at her. She was scared, I knew that look anywhere. That was the look she had right before my dad hit her across the face for calling me a sexy bitch. I personally thought the name was funny. We had been playing Castle Crashers and I had selected an avatar she'd seen as "hot". Also, I was a bitch at Castle Crashers; hence sexy bitch. "Bridge?"

"Oh my God," she replied. My jaw dropped. Angle said a lot of things that a normal Christion would never say, but "Oh my God" was not one of them. She pointed a shaky finger at a lumpy shadow and said: "Gary, l-look." I looked and instantly felt my insides twist. My bowels turned to water. My limbs to jelly, the gross kind your decent-cooking-impaired granny makes and insists that you try. The lumpy shadow… the thing in the alley… it wasn't an it. It was a person!

"Sweet baby Jesus," I murmured. Angle was breathing like a rabbit face to face with a bear. I stepped closer to the body. Slowly, ever so carefully, as if my mother's own life depended on it.

"Careful, Gare-bear!" Angle whispered urgently from behind me. Normally I'd swing at her for the stupid reference to SpongeBob's pet snail, but this was more important. It was at this moment when I really wished my mother was with me, she'd be giving me a supportive shove, telling me, no fear, courage, you can do it. I can do it, I told myself. There was nothing to be afraid of, it was dead, it couldn't hurt me… there were no such things as zombies. Except for that small apocalypse in the Boonies back in 2013. But that was over and done with now… hopefully. I gulped. "Oh God, Gary," Angle whimpered from behind. I didn't know why she was so afraid until I saw her. Not Angle, my mother. Her bashed, bruised, bloody and broken body lay abandoned in front of my feet. I blinked. I rubbed my eyes. I shook my head. She was still there.

"Mom…?" I said, as if she could hear me. As if my voice would stir her. As if the love of her only son could bring her back to life, like the pussy movies, like the sob stories Angle and most others always cried at, like… "Mom!" I said again, louder this time. No movement. "Mom!" nothing. I felt the fear like it was heat, and I was in the center of the sun. "Mom!" I tried to run to her, but Angle stopped me, holding my torso firmly.

"Gary no! She's gone, man, I'm sorry…" I struggled.

"No, no, no! Mom! Mom!" I felt something build up in my chest. It was an un-ignorable feeling. Like a balloon was being blown up in both of my lungs and it was pushing out all of the air with it. Like an unearthly thing, I howled: "MOM!" and that was when the tears came. It was uncomfortable, awkward, sobbing when just seconds ago, I was joking and playing around with my best friend. I had never cried before. It was the worst feeling, screaming and staining salt water on Angles hoody while she smoothed my hair and tried to sooth me…

"Kenny?" Kennedy opened her eyes. Tyler was peeking through her doorway. She got up and walked to him, closing the door behind her. "It's 12:01am, Kenny." Kennedy's eyes widened. Had she been day dreaming that long?

"Holy balls," she whispered. Tyler chuckled and placed a paw on her shoulder.

"I wish you the best of luck. Make Sensei proud, like we always knew you would."

"Don't get all sappy on me now, Ty, this isn't the last time we'll see each other, don't treat this goodbye like a funeral to our friendship," Kennedy said, and hugged him. She had never been a hugger, in fact, Kennedy hated giving and receiving hugs, but, something about this moment made it seem like the only option. Tyler, after a moment's hesitation, hugged her back. It was short, but it was a worth-while hug. The released each other.

"Take care of yourself," Tigerclaw said. It seemed appropriate to call him his warrior name now. He was his own clan, his own man now. Kennedy nodded.

"And if you get hurt, don't hesitate to come back here." Tigerclaw nodded, turned, and left. Kennedy heard the door close and she walked back into her room, keeping her face neutral.

"Kenn? What's going on?" asked a groggy Karai. Kennedy didn't look at her friend, just sat back on her bed and shrugged.

"Nothing of your concern. Go back to sleep." Karai didn't argue.