Alright, here's chapter four. Took me a little longer than I wanted, but it's up now, so that's good.
Before you start reading, I think now may be a good time to mention that we are past the halfway point in this story. I only intended for this to be around 5-6 chapters long, so if any of you were hoping for a longer fic, I apologise. But if it helps, I am planning to write a few other fics in the future.
Anyway, thank you everyone who has reviewed, I hope you enjoy this fourth chapter!
Disclaimer: TMNT belongs to Eastman & Laird. I do not own the Ramses series
Leo's Reflection
Chapter four
The first thing April heard when she returned to her flat was her house phone. After putting her shopping bags in the kitchen, she quickly checked the caller ID to find it was Mikey calling her. Again.
Sighing, she looked round the living room to see if Leo was around. There wasn't any sign of her, so she assumed the young turtle was in the guest room. Satisfied, she turned her attention back to her phone and answered it.
"Hey, Mikey." she said. "How's it going?"
"Hi April," the turtle replied. "We're doing ok, you know, considering. Is Lil there? I'd kinda like talking to her."
"Mikey, you know she doesn't want to talk." the redhead sighed, briefly looking over her shoulder again. "And it's only been four days; you guys don't need to keep checking up on her so often."
"Oh, come on, please? I swear I won't say anything to upset her. I just wanna talk to her."
"I'm sorry Mikey. I told Donnie yesterday that she'd call you guys when she was ready. And she's not ready yet." April couldn't help but feel bad about things. When she invited Leo to stay over, she didn't mean for her to cut off all contact with the others. Leo on the other hand was adamant she wasn't up to facing them yet, and in the state she was in, April didn't want to upset her further.
One thing she was glad for though was Leo's manners. The younger girl was very considerate about staying in someone else's home, and was frequently offering to do odd jobs to make up for the 'inconvenience'. Not that there was anything inconvenient about it.
as she continued to mull over the last few days, she suddenly realised Mikey had started talking again.
"Sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say Mikey?" she said hastily.
"I asked you if Lil was doing ok. Is she feeling any better?"
"Oh. Well, she seems to be alright. She's still a bit down about things, but not as much as before. She is spending a fair bit of time reading though."
"Yeah, she does that a lot when she's sad." the orange turtle said. "Usually reading or meditating are the best things to cheer her up."
"I'll bear that in mind"
"Look, April, I know you said Lil's not ready to see us yet, but is there anything we could do that might help? We all really miss her."
"Well..." April said slowly, "You could stop calling her Lillian for a start."
"What? Why?"
"Oh come on, Mikey. You know what she said that day; it's obvious she doesn't want to be called Lillian. I think if anything she wants her old name back!"
"But Leonardo is a boy's name. Isn't that kinda wierd?"
"Maybe, but I don't think Leo really cares about that." she said, stressing the name Leo to get her point across. "Maybe if you did as she wanted you to do she'd be more willing to come home."
She was about to continue, when she suddenly heard the sound of a door opening and closing behind her. Leo must have come in!
"O...ok, well I hope everything goes well Aunt Joan." she said, trying to sound happier. "I'll talk to you again soon. Bye!" She then hung up before Mikey could reply, before turning to find Leo standing in the living room looking at her.
"Hey Leo, what's up?" she asked, trying to sound casual.
"Nothing much." the youger answered. "Who was it this time?"
"What do you mean Leo?"
"April, they've been calling here everyday. Raph tried to call me twice a short while ago on my shell cell." she said as she walked over to the couch. "So who was it?"
"It was Mikey." said April, moving over to sit with her. "He's worried about you. They all are."
"Yeah, I know." the turtle replied quietly.
April wondered for a moment if she should say anything more. Although Leo was feeling better than she had been, she was still reluctant when it came to talking about her family.
"Um, Leo," she started tentatively. "Have you thought anymore about seeing any of them again?"
"A little, why? Am I getting in the way for you?"
"No! No, it's not that. I just thought that, maybe if you talk to them, it might help to make things better. You know, tell them how you feel?"
"Maybe," she replied. "But I'm worried they won't see it the way I do. Raph will probably say I'm just being stubborn cos I'm not getting my way, and Mikey's gonna be so upset if he find's out I wanna go back to how things were. He loves having a sister."
"What about Donnie? about you said he was more understanding."
"Well, yeah, Don probably won't make as much of a fuss. I'm not even that mad at him."
"Really?" asked April, slightly surprised."So why do you keep ignoring him like the others?"
"Look, I know Don means well, I mean the most he did was just teach me things about female turtles. It's just the amount of stuff he was telling me, it was just a bit overwelming."
Sighing, Leo curled up slightly on the couch, resting her head in her hands.
"But I thought he'd at least understand how I feel. He's the best at reading people. But he never said anything, or asked me how I felt. That's what got me."
"So talk to him then. Who knows? Maybe he was just waiting to see if you said anything. You know what he's like."
Leo didn't respond to that part. She just reached over to the coffee table for the book she'd been reading earlier; Ramses: The Son of the Light by Christian Jacq (1). Knowing this meant the conversation was over, April got up and returned to the kitchen, picking up the phone once more.
"Are you ok with Thai food tonight?" she asked.
"Yeah, thanks April." the youger of the two called back, not looking up from her book.
While April called to order their dinner, Leo slowly closed her book and looked up, a thoughtful expression on her face. She wasn't actually reading; she couldn't focus on it. Instead she found herself thinking about her brothers, and what April had said. Leo was still a bit mad at them, but she knew she'd have to confront them sooner or later. But she was still afraid how things would turn out when they did talk. What if it just made things worse?
Unsure about what to do, Leo turned to look at the end table by the armchair, where her shell cell sat, switched off. Surely just a quick call wouldn't hurt, would it?
Back at the lair, no one really spoke to each other as they ate their pizzas that night. The place had certainly become much quieter since Lil had moved out four days ago. Not that she was particularly loud; if anything she was one of the quietest, after Splinter. But after she left, the three brothers hadn't spoken as much; it was clear that they were missing their sister. Even Raph was a little down about it.
Splinter had tried to keep things going as normal, but he too was affected by his daughter's absence. Although he knew where she was staying, he couldn't help but worry for her safety. The old rat had protected his children since the day he'd found them, not wishing to see any of them hurt. What made it worse was that he felt like he himself was to blame for her distress.
The clan had tried several times to contact her, but from what April had said, Lil wasn't prepared to speak with them. According to Mikey, she seemed to be improving, but the orange ninja was the only one keeping his hopes up.
Donnie sighed as he looked around the kitchen. He wasn't really hungry tonight; none of them were, but Splinter insisted they still eat their food. He'd only managed to get through half his pizza though, before deciding not to bother anymore. Raph had already left the table, having said he was going out to see Casey, leaving a good third of his food untouched.
"Master Splinter?" Donnie asked, turning to look at his sensei. "Can I be excused? I really don't think I'm gonna finish this."
He only had to wait a moment for the ninjutsu master to nod his head, before he left to go to his room. Once there, he flopped down onto his bed, not in the mood to do anything. He stayed there for a while, just staring at the ceiling as he thought about his sister. Eventually he decided to work on his latest project, to try and take his mind off things. But as he reached his bedroom door, a familiar sound reached his ears.
-RING, RING-
-RING, RING-
Turning round swiftly, he noticed his shell cell was lying on the floor by his bed; he must have dropped it when he lay down. as he went to retrieve it, he thought about who it might be calling him at this time. It wasn't Mikey, because he was still downstairs with Master Splinter, so he didn't need to. Casey didn't have his number, as he was more friends with Raph than with anyone else. So that meant it was most likely to be either Raph or April. However when he looked at the phone, he saw that he was completely wrong.
It was Lil's name on caller ID.
At first, he didn't know what to think. He kept looking at the cell phone, as if daring it to say he'd read it wrong. Was Lil really calling him? Was she ready to talk?
Feeling both exicted and nervous, he quickly pressed the answer button and held the phone to his ear. Before he even had a chance to speak, he heard his sister's voice on the other end.
"Ok, Don. Before you say anything let me make one thing clear. If you call be Lil or Lillian, I'm hanging up, got it?"
"Er...y-yeah, got it." he stammered, slightly taken aback. For some reason, he hadn't expected her to sound so bitter. Clearling his throat, he tried to think of something to say. "So, er...so how are you?"
"Ok...I guess. What about you?"
"Not so good," the purple ninja sighed, sitting back down on his bed. "Things have been kinda quiet lately."
"I find that hard to believe."
"I'm serious. Raph's not yelling as much anymore, and Mikey's stopped playing his video games all day."
"Seriously? Mikey's stopped playing? The world must be about to end." the girl said almost jokingly (2). Although Donnie couldn't see her face, he was almost certain she was grinning slightly.
"I know, it doesn't seem possible, does it?" he replied light-heartedly. "Honestly though, I'm glad to hear you again." he said truthfully.
"Same here. I really miss you guys." That surprised Donnie slightly. From what April said, he thought they would be the last people she'd want to talk to.
"Hang on, if you miss us so much, how come you never answered our calls?" as soon as he'd asked the question he regretted it, cirnging at how rude he had sounded.
"I am allowed to be mad at someone I love, you know." his sister answered. "I still am. Though maybe not as much as I was."
"So does this mean you're coming home soon?" he asked hopefully.
"I...I don't know," the girl sighed."I'm not sure if I can handle being back home. Not with things the way they are now."
"What do you mean?" asked Donnie, though he was starting to have an idea as to her reply.
"It's just...everything that's happened lately, it's all because of what I am now. What you guys think I'm supposed to do. I mean, you weren't so bad Don, you were just telling me about biology. But everything else..." she trailed off there, not finishing her sentence.
At first, Donnie didn't say anything in reply. what his sister had just said had got him thinking. Now that he thought about it, all the changes that had occurred over the last few weeks had been down to the brothers and Splinter. Splinter had been the one to suggest changing her name; Mikey had been the one who made her try new activities; Raph...well, Raph just got more angry; and Donnie was the one who had decided to teach her about being female. She'd never asked for any of this!
The only change their sister made to herself was her attitude. Ever since her name had changed, she'd become quieter, and less cheerful.
Now realising how upset she really was, Donnie felt a wave a guilt passing over him. Even tho she'd said he wasn't as bad, he still felt at fault for hurting his sister in this way.
"Li-Leo... I...I'm sorry," the purple ninja said finally. "I'm so, so sorry. I never realised...I can't believe we did that. I..."
"It's ok, Don." she reassured him. "It's not your fault."
"Wait, what?" he asked, almost astonished. "You...don't blame me?"
"Well, it's not like you were trying to hurt me, is it? I know you wouldn't have meant to if you knew."
For a moment, the two of them quiet, allowing each other to collect their thoughts.
"So, um, what about the others? Do you you want to talk to them?"
"I'm not sure, Don. I know it would help, and I do miss them, and you. It's just...well...what can I say to them?"
"Just tell them how you feel, Leo. Like you just did with me."
"I, I guess I could-" She suddenly stopped talking, though it was clear she hadn't finished her sentence. As he listened, Donnie heard the quiet, slightly muffled voices of his sister and April conversing.
"Hi. Sorry about that." she said a minute later. "I kinda have to go now, Don. April says dinner is ready now; she's just setting the table for it."
"Oh, ok." said Donnie, a little disappointed that their conversation had to end. "Are you still gonna talk to the others later?"
"Maybe," the girl replied, "But it might be easier to talk to you all in person. Can I call you back later to talk about it?"
"Yeah, sure. Well, I guess I'd better let you go eat now. Bye."
"Wait, hold on a second!" said Leo quickly, before he had a chance to hang up.
"What is it, sis?"
"It's just...well, I...thank you."
"Thank you? What for?"
"For calling me Leo."
"...You're welcome."
After saying their goodbyes, Leo hung up, leaving Donnie to sit there on his bed, his hands resting lightly on his lap, mulling over the last few minutes.
At least she's talking to me again, he thought, smiling slightly. But I still don't know about the others. Will talking to them really help Leo? Sighing for what felt like the fiftieth time that day, he looked down at his hands, trying to decide if it was worth telling his family about Leo's call. As he considered this, he noticed a drop of liquid fall onto his left hand. lifting it up to inspect it, he realised his mask was a bit damp; he'd been crying silently. Qiuckly wiping away his tears, he got up and moved over to his dresser, changing his mask for a fresh one, before leaving to tell Splinter what had happened. At the very least he should know about Leo, even if he chose not to tell his brothers.
Ok, that's chapter four. One or two things I'd like to point out:
1) The Ramses series is a series of historical novels based on the life of Ramses the Great. I thought Leo would like reading historical fiction, but I don't know any Japanese novels, so I wen't with Egyptian for now. This is one of my favourite book series.
2) Sorry Mikey. I wanted something to lighten the mood of the phone call, and a small joke about Mikey seemed to work.
I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. I'm afraid I won't be able to get chapter 5 up very quickly, as I'm going on holiday next week and won't have access to the internet until I get back.
Remember, flames will be used to roast camping goodies!
AJ Tomb Raider
