Eventually night fell over the lair and silence descended...with the exception of the televisions...every one of which had been left on...by Mikey...who was out cold on the couch still in front of the cluster. Though the volume was thankfully low, the lair was mostly quiet.
She opened her eyes slowly and looked around in confusion. This was not her den. The smell was wrong, the sounds were wrong. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light and she sat up slowly, letting the sudden pounding in her head subside. This was not home.
She brought a hand quickly to her mouth to cover the slight gasp of surprise and she continued to take in her surroundings. She was in a large, roughly circular chamber that had a small pool in the center. The pool appeared to be clean and a Japanese style bridge spanned it. There were numerous alcoves in the walls, both on her level and an upper level just out of sight, and one that was closed by a paper screen. She eyed the door for a moment before continuing on her visual tour.
The couch she sat on smelled faintly musty but was clean for the most part, and parked in front of a large cluster of televisions. All of them on, and set to different channels. She blinked at the overload of visual images and looked away. The light was somewhat painful. Her eyes fell on a second couch by the TV assembly. This one was occupied.
Her eyes widened in curiosity rather than fear as she looked at what was on the other couch. It looked like a giant turtle, wearing knee and elbow pads, a belt and an orange mask. He...was it a he? was snoring soundly and she quickly overcame her trepidation and pushed her blanket away.
Slowly she slid off the couch and crept up to the sleeping turtle. It was so human-like, yet alien, and she'd never seen anything quite like it. It looked harmless and actually kind of cute. Fascinated, she reached forward to touch it, ignoring her inner voice of common sense and succumbing to her curiosity. Some sort of kame?
His body was hard, muscled, toned. She expected him to be slimy or something, but he wasn't and she ran her soft fingertips along the solidity of his biceps. Feeling braver, probably because he hadn't awoken, she leaned forward to look at his shell, her face a few inches from his sleeping one. It really is a turtle! She remarked silently touching his shell. A kame spirit? A mutant? A kappa!? Without thinking she knocked on his shell softly looking for the six inscribed virtues.
Michelangelo's eyes fluttered open. Something was knocking on his shell and it woke him up from his pizza dreams. As the world came into focus...so did a face...a face that was alarmingly close to his. "AHHHH!!" he screamed.
"AHHHH!" She echoed as she scrambled backwards, frightened and startled but the sudden noise and motion, screaming in unison. Suddenly terrified she turned around and bolted looking for a place to hide. Great just great Kiah You are going to get yourself killed by some giant turtle spirit. In her scramble to escape she bumped into Donatello's table, sending parts and tools to the ground with a loud clatter.
Michelangelo was convinced he was under attack by aliens and he dove to the ground under the blanket. "It wasn't me! I told them to let you go! I told theeeem!" He didn't see his brothers and Splinter come out of their rooms, startled but at the ready.
Donatello was blinking groggily rubbing his dome as Raphael ran over to Mikey. "Mikey!" He cried, "Are you ok? Did she hurt you?" He looked angry, but then...he -always- looked angry. He looked around the lair for the girl but didn't see her right away. "Where did she go?"
Michelangelo blinked from under his pillow then looked up at Raph. "Huh? Wha? Oh...her? Um...I think she woke up." Raph gave him a blank stare for a moment then took a hold of his bandana and pulled him off the couch. "Ow! Hey!"
Leonardo took charge of the chaos. "Spread out." He commanded. "Let's find her." The other three immediately moved off while Splinter waited. The old rat shook his head slightly. He had sensed something about the girl while he meditated. There was something odd about her, something decidedly inhuman, but it was something he couldn't quite place his finger on. All he was certain of was that should that something decide to show, it would be quite a challenge for his sons. For now, however, he sensed it was benign.
Donatello searched his workshop carefully. "Great..." he muttered quietly. "She's lost in here. There isn't any way out and she's going to get scared..." he continued to search and wondered if any of the others had better luck.
Raphael searched the lower sections. If she was in here, he'd find her, and make her give them some answers. He had noticed her disquieting effect on their steady leader. It disturbed and angered him because he knew his brother better than the others. He knew that girl's effect on Leo would make his bro angry at himself for letting her get to him even more then Raph could...on his bad days. An angry Leo meant a grumpy Leo...and that usually meant harder workouts and more chores. Raph knew his brother would let it simmer, never showing it. It was all part of that 'big brother' image he worked so hard to keep up. And he knew that once Leo grumped at him, he'd get angry, then they'd both get angry, and that meant they'd fight...again. With growing resolution, Raph decided that if he found her he'd make her give them some answers.
Michelangelo searched the kitchen. Nope, she wasn't in the refrigerator. Nope, she wasn't in the pantry. Or the oven. Or the cabinets...but he did find some left over nachos. "These will heat up quite nicely." In response his stomach grumbled in protest. "Oh. Sorry stomach. Better take care of you first." He patted his tummy fondly and shoved the box in the microwave before returning to the search.
Leonardo searched through the upper lair, the bedroom area. He moved quietly, purposefully. It was his fault she was here. If she was some sort of spy this would be his fault. The ninja moved by one of their bedrooms, Raphael's, and paused, he heard a sound. He stopped and looked inside, tensing up, preparing for anything. One of his hands went over his shoulder towards his blades and he stepped inside.
Kiah couched down by a grate. This screamed SO much of a B horror movie. Here she was, trapped in a room with no exits, while the monster, in this case, some sort of kappa, searched for its prey. She peeked around the corner and saw the water demon's back and she ducked back quickly. OH no... she panicked. Forcing herself to calm down she peeked back around the corner. He was searching the room and she watched him for a moment. Something about him seemed familiar...she couldn't place it. His figure was imposing and she knew she couldn't hope to defeat him...perhaps surprise and then she could run by him quick enough. Yeah...that sounded like a good plan.
She looked around the space quickly, looking for something to use. There wasn't many things here, a couple of books, a box of cards and a pillowcase. She picked up a pillowcase and prepared to attack.
Leonardo's senses went off, she was near, and he could smell her faint scent of lilacs and honeysuckle. Suddenly something came down over his head and he was blinded. "Rrraagh!" he cried as he struggled to free his head. It came off fairly easily and he spun around to see the girl go bolting away from him out the door.
She didn't get more than five steps though before the turtle gave chase. He was right behind her, reaching out towards her and she turned her head to see. It was a classic blunder...and she fell right in it. She tripped over Mikey's skateboard that had been left out and went sprawling to the ground with a pain-filled yelp.
Leonardo had taken off after her immediately. She wasn't going to get away. Scowling he reached out to grab her arm, to stop her, to make her give him some answers. He wasn't prepared for her to fall and snarl of annoyance turned to a squeal of surprise as his momentum disallowed a quick stop. Failing utterly, he sprawled into her and the two of them slid roughly across the floor tiles. Ugh, he thought, some ninja... His arms went around her head instinctively trying to both brace his weight, and protect her. He lifted his head, still scowling and immediately felt bad.
He could feel her trembling beneath him. She was absolutely terrified; terrified of him; terrified of Leonardo. He was both shocked and dismayed at this revelation. Her fists were up on his shoulders, pushing at him futilely as his weight had her pinned. She had her head turned to the side, away from him, her eyes squeezed shut tightly. "Please." She whispered. "Please do not hurt me."
This distressed him slightly and he moved off of her. At that moment he knew, he knew with an utter clarity, that he'd never hurt her. He didn't even know who she was, but he knew he wouldn't harm her, or allow anyone else to. "I'm not going to hurt you." He responded softly. "We just wanted to help you. Uh..." He faltered, staring at her. "Why did you run?"
She opened her eyes and turned to look at him for a long moment. Leonardo realized she was assessing his intent, his sincerity. "Be...because you are armed and you chased me." She answered finally pushing herself to sit up. "Where am I? Who are you?" Her trembling stopped and he offered her his hand to help stand up. She hesitated a little but then took it and he pulled her slight weight up to her feet towards him. They were only separated by a few inches and she smiled slightly.
Leonardo took a step backwards. "My name is Leonardo." He glanced to the side as Splinter was approaching as well as the others who had noticed their quarry had been found. "These are my brothers." He introduced each one as they neared ending with his father Splinter. "And this is our home."
Splinter smiled at the girl. She seemed to be getting over her initial shock and fear. Her deep bow in respect towards the rat indicated a great deal of proper Japanese etiquette and he bowed back. "We welcome you, child. Please. Come with us." He led her back over to the couches again where he sat down on a cushion, as did she. The others gathered about. "Please, tell us your name."
The girl squirmed a bit and blushed with embarrassment. She shook her head, "I do not know. I do not know how I got here, or where I am." She dropped her head "Gomen nasai. My head hurts."
Donatello reached over to her and she jumped a little in surprise. He picked up a cartouche she had on around her neck. "Well according to this...it says Kiah on one side and Tokutaro on the other side. My guess would be your name is Kiah, though I don't know who Tokutaro could be. But I'm betting you've got amnesia. When Leo brought you in here, you had a rather large head injury, which could be how it happened." He dropped the cartouche and Kiah reached up to touch it.
"My name is Kiah?" she repeated as she appeared to think it over. "Alright. Then that is what my name will be. Why is my head injured?" Automatically she reached up pulling at the bandages. She looked around the group stopping at Leonardo, who looked away.
Raphael noted Leo's obvious ache and answered for him. "When my brother here brought you in, you were being chased by Foot ninjas and this guy named Hun. Ring any bells?" When she shook her head he frowned but continued. "Hun was trying to hurt you or bring you back with him but my man Leo here stopped him. Unfortunately you fell off the roof but he caught you."
She looked at Leonardo for a moment, who still continued to look away. She didn't know what a Hun was, other than the normal Mongolian reference, but she surmised it was something strong. "Then...I owe you my life Leonardo-sama." She dropped her head in a bow. "Domo arigato gozaimasu." Her Japanese was perfect and Leonardo turned to look at her.
"Y-you're welcome."
Splinter cleared his throat. "Miss Kiah, it is dangerous for you to return to the streets when your memory is missing. You are welcome to stay down here with us until you heal."
She shook her head. "Oh no! You have been so kind to me already. To stay here would be to ask to much."
Michelangelo leaned over the couch "Nah, it's no problem, as long as you like pizza. Besides..." he reached back and knocked on his shell. "This way you can knock on my shell anytime." His flirtatious attempt at humor worked and she giggled.
--
That was 3 weeks ago.
Raphael punched the bag over and over. He still didn't trust her, not completely. Something about her was...wrong. Maybe she did remember and was just biding her time. Still, master Splinter had sensed no deception from her and that should have been good enough for him...but it wasn't. He still worried about Leonardo. He hadn't been the same since she came to stay with them. All things considered, Leonardo hadn't said more than a sentence to her since that day, but Raph knew better. He caught his fearless leader watching her sometimes when she was training with Master Splinter, or trying to learn to skateboard with Mikey, or work with Donatello in his lab.
It was true that April and Casey liked her well enough and she seemed to get along well with them both. They had briefly considered letting her live with April in her place till they sorted things out but nixed it quickly as it wasn't safe for either April or Kiah since the Foot could still be after her. Therefore, Kiah remained in the lair with the four turtles. It didn't seem to bother her very much; she seemed to want to be near them. Near Leo especially, but he constantly snubbed her.
Raphael paused and chuckled; if he didn't know better he'd say that blue had fallen for the stranger girl. He looked over towards Kiah who was working with Master Splinter on split kicks. The girl certainly didn't seem like she was a newb at martial arts. She was just as limber as they were, and her body belied a surprising strength, still...she was so awkward in the practice ring it made Casey look graceful. He noticed Leonardo watching her again and Raph frowned, looking away. If he -was- in love with her, she couldn't have drawn a worse turtle for it to be. Leonardo was as stiff and prudish as they came. He'd never let himself relax enough to love someone. It just wasn't him. It wasn't quote/unquote the 'big brother' thing to do.
It was a few hours later when Splinter allowed Kiah to halt her training for today. Despite her best efforts she wasn't any better now than she was 3 weeks ago when she started. Still, Splinter had to admire her spirit. Not once had she complained or gotten discouraged. She had tried her best every time, all the time. It made him feel good. It wasn't often one found a student so committed. But there was still something off...and it wasn't that she was maladroit...it was something totally different. As if she was suffering some sort of mental block that would not allow her body to respond to the commands her brain sent out. Perhaps it was that she had muscle memory and constantly struggled against it. He returned her bow and then retired to his room to meditate.
Kiah looked around the lair. It was nice here, she owed the turtles so much and she had begun to feel obligated to them. They had been so nice to her, first saving her life then opening up their home to her. She felt guilty; she had not been able to tell them anything about herself, or even who she was more than her name. She made up her mind to do something nice for them today. As she looked around she noticed Leonardo staring back at her. She smiled at him but, as usual, he turned away from her and disappeared.
The smile disappeared and it left her feeling hurt. Why was he so distant from her? She owed him her life. She wanted to do something to repay him, him more than any of the others. But yet, whenever she tried to approach him, he found a way to scurry off to avoid her. It was like he hated her. She turned and went to the kitchen. It was almost time for dinner and she was going to help Michelangelo, as usual.
Leonardo turned away from her, aware that she'd seen him. He didn't care. He couldn't bring himself to go and talk to her. Why? WHY?! He slammed the back of his fist against the lair wall dully. "Why can't I just go talk to her?" He sat down on his bed. He'd been spending a lot of time in here over the past few weeks. But trying to escape his emotional turmoil was a wasted effort.
Her laughter wafted through the lair along with some music and he thought about his brothers. It was probably Mikey making her laugh. It came so naturally to him. Mikey was a natural goof and it seemed she gravitated towards him. He frowned in...what? Jealousy? Of who? Mikey?! Leo snorted. Yeah right. Still...he sighed. Michelangelo got along with everyone. She seemed to like him too, she always laughed at his lame jokes. They teased each other constantly. He seemed to enjoy her help in cooking too. Currently she was the only other member of the household who wouldn't burn water besides Master Splinter. Still, Leonardo had to admit her cooking wasn't too bad. Maybe she'd get better when her memory returned.
The thought was a sobering one and he sat up. He realized that once she got her memory back she'd probably leave, and they'd most likely never see her again. It was obvious she was from money. When they'd found her she was clean, her hair was freshly washed, and her hands were un-calloused and manicured. Even her traditional Japanese-style brocade clothes with its mandarin collar and carved onyx buttons, were silk embroidered. She didn't seem to be lacking in anything while he lived in a sewer. Her world and his just didn't match.
She was also educated, most likely formally. That was painfully obvious. Unlike her training with Splinter, she was able to pick up and understand Donatello's techno-geek vocabulary rapidly. And even more surprising, she was able to follow it and offer suggestions, ideas that even impressed the turtle geek. She seemed to have a surprising propensity for recall, a photographic memory...which made it doubly ironic she was missing so much of it. She was probably fairly popular in her world.
He snorted again, disgusted slightly with himself. What was he worrying about 'her world' for? It wasn't like they'd ever be compatible right? It wasn't like they had anything between them right? He'd saved her life, she'd saved his. They were even. Even Steven.
But it wasn't that easy. Nothing ever was. He didn't feel even. Master Splinter had always taught him and his brothers to take the harder path. But this? He thought back to the night she woke up and when he found her. She had been so terrified. Terrified of him. Of Leonardo. Leonardo who'd never hurt anyone if they didn't try to hurt him first. Leonardo, the level headed one. Leonardo the leader. Leo the big brother. At that moment that girl had truly believed he was going to hurt her, or worse. What? Rape her? The thought horrified him. It stung his honor, his pride. She should know he'd never do anything like that.
But...some distant part of his mind rationalized, how could she know that? How could she know he wasn't like that? That he fought for honor. For her. He had given her no chance. In the past three weeks he'd done his best to ignore her, to snub her. He had tried to make her think he hated her, when that wasn't true at all.
He stood up from his bed with a determined expression. He'd march out there and tell her the truth. He sat down again. What truth? That he was scared to talk to her? Because he was. Why? Was he afraid of being rejected? He sighed and stood back up. Better do it now while his resolve was up.
Leonardo walked out of his alcove onto the ledge overlooking the main room and stopped; his eyes wide at the scene before him. They had the music playing, something fast, almost techno, and Kiah was being swung around by Mikey in a wild sort of dance. She was laughing almost hysterically, along with Mikey. Donatello paused in his work to watch and Raphael simply leaned on the punching bag and shook his head with a smile. Kiah was almost a rag doll in Mikey's arms. He could only stare dumbfounded as the music changed and so did their dance.
Deep in the jungle...In the land of adventure, lives Tarzan
Mikey found one of their grappling hooks and swung it up into the ceiling during the opening bars as Kiah, giggling dug through a box of clothing pulling out a blue scarf...incidentally the same one Leo used in their surface disguises and she wrapped it around her torso. Mike stood on the bridge, his legs straddling the sides and beat his chest in an impressive Tarzan mockery and chanted the traditional Tarzan mantra. "Oo-ee-oo-ee-oo-ee-oo-ee-aaa-eee-ahh-de yay" Taking a short running start off the sides of the bridge he held the rope and swung around towards the perimeter to land on his Utrom powered skateboard, which fired up and he rocketed around the perimeter of the circular lair still holding onto the rope.
Kiah spun around to face him and he zipped by her with a grin, and sang with the music thumbing her chest. "I am Jane and I'd love to ride an elephant."
Mickey zipped to her side and around her in a circle, causing her hair to swirl around her as well, caught in the wind current. He came to a stop several feet higher than her head and crouched down on the board. "My name is Tarzan, I am jungle-man."
Kiah responded as she pointed to him. "The tree-top swinger from jungle-land!"
He held his hand out to her. "Come, baby come, I will take you for a swing."
She drew her arms to her chest briefly hugging herself tightly. "Let's go honey, I'm tingling!"
Mikey swung down and caught the girl in his strong arms, placing her on the board in front of him side-saddle and carried her along with him and managed to somehow avoid a collision. She held on easily, tendrils of her hair whipped around his legs still mostly tied up in a loose bun. They came around by the televisions and she jumped from his board, doing a graceful cartwheel from the momentum as he slid to a stop.
She picked up a new rope mop head and plopped it down on Mikey's head, making him seem to have literally a mop of long white hair over his orange bandana. "Tarzan is handsome, Tarzan is strong..." She giggled as Mikey flexed his biceps. "...He's really cute and his hair is long."
Mike casually flipped back his new hair and continued his muscle pose for her and she immediately ran a soft hand over his biceps admiring them dramatically and sang with her. "Tarzan is handsome, Tarzan is strong! So listen to the jungle song..."
Together they both started to chant as she took off playfully and he gave chase. It led them around the center pool. With an incredible dexterity she hadn't shown before she was able to stay just out of his reach, but this obscure fact was lost on Michelangelo as he was lost in the fun and game. She didn't notice his tactic and continued on. She gave a small squeak and tried to avoid him, but her earlier clumsiness was back and she slid on the tile sending her into the couch. Michelangelo winced and ran over to her. When he saw she was still laughing, he continued on with the game since she wasn't hurt, offering her his hand to stand.
She took his hand and smiled at him gleefully as he made a weird face. He tapped his chin thoughtfully before singing again. "When you touch me, I feel funny."
Kiah nodded and let him pull her to her feet still holding his hands. "I feel it too, when you're touching me."
The turtle let one hand go and snapped his fingers, "Come to my tree-house," He made a sweeping gesture to indicate the lair. "To my party."
She followed his motion and nodded to him. "Yes, I'll go," She wrapped both arms around his neck and jumped into his arms. "If you carry me."
Michelangelo swung her around in a circle making her hold him tighter and laugh harder as he continued to sing. He crouched before leaping into the air, doing a graceful flip with her. He took the few remaining steps and leaped back unto his hover board. "Tarzan is handsome, Tarzan is strong." He flew a few feet to the rope still attached to the ceiling and grabbed it as the board when by, swinging away, one handed into the air. Kiah held on tightly and seemed to curl tighter up against him. "...So listen to the jungle song"
The two of them managed to do several tricks on the single skateboard, hitting sliders, and flips with seeming ease. Both of them were completely oblivious to anyone else that might have been watching. After all, they were playing, and playing was important. Plus, it was a good song.
The turtle and his passenger finally came to a stop several feet from Leonardo, who had eventually come downstairs and could only stare at the spectacle going on with a mixed feeling. Sure he wanted that to be him that she was dancing with, clinging to, touching...but there was NO way he knew that he could EVER act that silly. He didn't think he had it in him. He kept watching as Michelangelo let her off the skateboard finally, her back to Leonardo...there was no way he could look away. It was almost like a train wreck.
Mikey stomped on his board flipping it up and he tossed it away. "When I am dancing, I feel funky." He danced, shaking his hips in a poor approximation of a human disco dance.
Kiah leaned forward first then abruptly spun around, putting her back to Mike singing playfully closing her eyes. "Why do you keep ignoring me?" Had she kept her eyes open, she would have seen the stung look Leo gave her.
Michelangelo missed it too and continued, moving up behind her and putting his head over her shoulder cutely. "Tarzan is here, come kiss me bay-bee."
She spun around leaning forward to rub noses with Mike briefly "Oochie coochie, kiss me tenderly!"
He didn't need much more of a prompt and he took her in his arms, bending her over backwards. "Yeah!" However he didn't kiss her, just swung her lightly back to her feet but retaining his grip on her hand. He swung her out away from him.
Without warning Michelangelo grabbed the rope again and, with a running start, Kiah in his arm, took off around the lair again, using his momentum at times to run along the edge of the circular upper ledge.
Together the two of them danced with each other, both the rope and the hover board being forgotten. They linked hands and swung around with each other, alternately pulling each other in and swinging each other out. At some point Kiah had turned around, her back to Michelangelo and sashayed her hips sexily into a brief crouch. Mikey, unaware of the sensuality of the dance put his hands on her hips and moved with her before she turned around and pulled him into a different dance.
Their dance led them over by the couch and they finally plopped down to the couch as a new song came on still laughing and breathing heavily. Kiah, beside him, leaned on him panting slightly. "Oh wow, that was...different. So much fun!"
Donatello was chuckling at this point. Even Raphael, certain that the two of them had lost their minds, wore a slight smile. Then, as Michelangelo started to answer her he glanced over and noticed Leonardo walking up. A part of him sobered up as he saw the look on Leo's face. He was JEALOUS! It was an emotional state he'd NEVER before seen on his fearless leader. Somewhat disturbing, it was something Michelangelo knew better then to call him out on. He'd NEVER admit it either, and he would probably act like Raph. Though, for the life of him, Mikey couldn't figure out exactly -why- he'd be jealous.
As Leonardo walked up everyone stopped and looked at him. Kiah was still settled against his brother, catching her breath, his arm draped over her narrow shoulders lightly, and her hand on his plastron. "What's going on now?" She asked happily, looking around. Her gaze followed Mike's and then fell on Leo. "Leonardo-san!"
He managed a slight smile for her and she hungrily accepted it. "Have you come to join our dance Leonardo-san? Mikey-kun said he will be teaching me something called the Macarena...but I do not think this is it."
Mikey protested. "Hey! It could be! Besides, we're right in the middle of cutting some major rug." He chuckled and Kiah smiled at his joke before she jumped up, and darted forward and taking Leo's hand in both of hers.
Leo managed to hide his surprise at her touch. Her hands were warm, and seemed to tingle slightly over his. "Come Leonardo-san. Dance with us?" She smiled at him disarmingly and he found that he'd lost his voice at the moment. He wanted to say so much to her, he wanted to tell her he was sorry. He wanted so badly to know she trusted him. He wanted to tell her everything.
He frowned as the anger rose inside again. How could she be making him feel this way? What the shell was wrong with him? What was wrong with -her-?? He pulled his hand from her grasp abruptly and took a step back. "It's time for the -rest- of us to train. Now." He spoke in that tone that brooked no argument and the other three groaned slightly and reluctantly followed suit.
Donatello turned off the music and Michelangelo shook his head. "Man...and we were having fun too. Don't worry, your dance partner will be back in time for dinner. Haha" He started to follow the others but paused as he heard her soft comment.
"He hates me..."
Michelangelo watched her turn around forlornly and return to her alcove, all trace of the recent merriment gone from her demeanor. It was his turn to frown. He'd have to have a talk with their curmudgeon leader.
It was several hours later, sometime in the dead of night, when the training was over. Each of the four turtles was achy in some way as they had been pushed harder than they had been in a while. It didn't take a Donatello caliber genius to figure out why. Why Leonardo was pressing them so hard...because he needed to let off steam, he was taking it out on them.
It was ok though, they all had their quirks. Leonardo, the turtle that didn't know how to relax, didn't know how to react in the current social situation he was in. Everyone could see how he was treated her, but yet no one said anything...they were going to let him work through it.
Even Splinter had refused to comment on it. Though neither of the two parties involved had directly brought it to his attention. But he knew his sons well, and he knew exactly what this was...and he knew it would be better if solved on their own.
Raphael stretched out, idly spinning a sai and walked over to Leonardo, who was busy honing his swords. "You know bro," he started, "You really should go talk to her. Get to know her. Heck you spend enough time staring at her...maybe you should, I dunno, take her out somewhere. Have a date."
Leonardo was stunned. So much so he nearly dropped his sword. Had he been that transparent? He didn't turn to look at his brother. "A date?" He retorted. "With a human?"
Raphael shrugged unsure why he was playing the devil's advocate here, especially with a girl he had barely come to trust himself. "Ya gotta admit she's a hottie, human or no. Besides...who cares? It's not like we know a lot of girls especially turtle girls." He paused for a moment, studying his weapon before glancing over to his brother. "Yer treatin' her like slime Leo."
"What?"
Raphael slid his sai away with a 'sssshinnng' and crossed his arms. "You won't talk to her; you won't stand by her, heck, unless your sneaking a peek at her from across the lair, you won't even look at her. Why Leo? Why?"
Leonardo put his katana away. He was torn between denying it all and telling everything. Somewhere in his mind he thought it ironic that the brother he fought with the most and worst was the one he'd open up to easiest. In the end he trusted Raphael and let it out. He told him how she'd torn up her own clothes to bind his wounds that night on the rooftop, how he'd dreamed of her while he was in his coma, and how terrified she'd been of him when he'd found her, how she thought the worst of him, and how much it hurt him to know she didn't trust him...even after she'd risked her life for his.
Raphael remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout this and at the end he said simply, "Bro...you gotta tell HER this...not me." He rubbed his forehead. "She's really not like that. I think she thinks you hate her."
"Yeah, you're right...she does." The two of them turned to see Michelangelo walking up to them, holding a slip of paper. Both of them looked up at their brother who stopped and held out the paper. "She left."
Leo jumped to his feet. "What?!" This was terrible; there was still Foot ninja who were after her. It was far too dangerous for her to be out on street level, and, mad or not, he still felt the need to find her, to make sure she was safe. Beside him, he felt Raphael stiffen the same way.
To be honest the intensity of the rush that when through his body scared him. His heartbeat sped up and he consciously willed it slower, willed his head to listen first and react second. "Why?"
Mikey waggled the note again, already held out. 'Hello. Note here.' While Leo took it and read it over, he spoke its contents. "She said 'I seem to have caused trouble where I did not wish to. Perhaps if I find something nice for Leonardo-san he will no longer be angry with me. Gomen nasai I will be back soon." Michelangelo scowled at Leonardo. "Dude." He said accusingly. "Why do you have to treat her so bad bro? You're the one who brought her here in the first place."
Raphael nodded. "Yeah, it's kinda like Leo has a crush on her..." he looked at Leo pointedly then narrowed his eyes. "But we all KNOW -that's- not true." He finished sarcastically.
Michelangelo nodded, not catching the implication or the sarcasm. "Hey, I'm a turtle in love." He babbled happily. "She cooks, she dances...I bet in a few more days I can get her hooked on comic books too - ow! Hey!" He winced as Raphael slapped the back of his head. "Anyway, let's get Donnie and go find her." He started towards the elevator to the abandoned garage at street level.
Raphael nodded and gave a last pointed look at Leonardo before following Mike. Leo sighed softly to himself, scowling and called back "DON! Come on." He waited a few moments for Don to appear and filled him in as they followed the other two. This was going to be a long night.
As Mike and Raph waited for their brothers by the elevator, Mikey mused aloud. "You know, maybe we should lock those two up in a closet together. Maybe Leo would finally get over whatever trip he's on about her and not be such a dork."
Raph smirked. "Ya know Mikey, for once I gotta agree with ya. Leo's really uptight about her." He rubbed his chin, still smirking heavily. "I think lockin' them in a closet is a good idea. I can find her...you tell Don and get Leo." He started to walk away. "I'll probably take the two o' you, to get him in there."
Mikey made a sour face, "Sure Raph, leave us with the easy part." He headed back towards Leo and Don as Raph turned around and went in the elevator. As the doors slid shut and started upwards, the smirk left his face and he frowned. He was aware of the Foot's interest in Kiah and it troubled him. Why should they want her? Kiah wasn't much more than a slip of a girl. She must have weighed less than half of what any one of his brothers did, and knew next to nothing about martial arts. There must be something more hidden. He stopped as Leo and Don headed his way, towards the elevator. Leo had that look on his face, that determined look, that 'impossible to sway me from my chosen course' look. Great...just HOW am I supposed to stop him?
Translations: Gomen nasai - slightly formal of Forgive me.
Kame - turtle. Japanese tradition finds the 6 cardinal virtues inscribed on the kame no kó; its shell
Kappa - a river goblin of the middle kingdom
Domo arigato gozaimasu - formal way of saying thank you very much
--Sama - an honorific used by lower ranking to address MUCH higher ranking people. somewhat Similar to Lord
The song is Tarzan and Jane by Toybox. (sorry, I was listening to it while I was writing and it seemed a very 'mikey' song.