Chapter 6 - Love Makes Fools of Us All

The view of the Pacific Ocean kept his wife, Aki, glued to the wrap-around porch of their villa's room. Except to explore the tourists' area of Jaco, she hardly left the spot. He teased her as she sat knitting a lace shawl in the wicker seat, nestled into the comfortable cushion.

"You are becoming spoiled little ginger root," Doctor Tsuneo Yuichi said as he placed a kiss upon her head. She smiled and nodded.

"It's about time you spoil me, thirty-nine years of marriage and I have never been outside of Japan," She replied and swatted at him with the blunt end of one knitting needle.

He chuckled and eased himself into the adjacent chair, bones creaking, and gazed past the manicured grounds of the exquisite and private Villa del Ver Sagrado. The fronds of palm trees swayed in the breeze, casting the softly scented ocean air to glide over the old married couple.

He glanced at his wife, a soft smile played along her mouth and he wanted nothing but to lift her into his arms and carry her inside and make love to her as they used to. Maybe it was the lush environment, so rich with romance that fired his desire, but more so the way his wife had seemed so light these past two weeks. Moving from place to place, she drifted on an unseen blanket of gentle joy and it left him feeling a mix of happiness with regret: regret for not having taken the time to give her this sooner. For the years of her devotion and patience with his many excursions and dealings with the Foot Clan, something she was, as far as he knew, unaware of, she deserved this and more. So much more.

Not that he would have ever been able to afford such luxury as this. No. This was all funded through his friend and most prominent patient's daughter, currently in hiding and with good reason: Karai. The troubled daughter of Oroku Saki. The man who was too much like a son to him. The son he'd been denied through natural means. He glanced surreptitiously at Aki. The memories of pregnancies ending abruptly, of the burden and pain the multiple miscarriages had caused for her and how she endured through it all; time and again, trying, for him; to produce a child; it pained him. He dropped his head, closing his eyes for a moment to allow the ache to pass.

After a moment, he looked up again over the tree tops down to the ocean stretching out, azure and reaching into the darkening horizon. Listening to the soothing chorus of insects and birds and above that the gentle roaring of the tides against the beach less than a mile from where they sat. This was nothing compared to the years of love and sacrifice that Aki had given to him. But it was something. Thanks to the situation Karai found herself in, he was able to finally give something back to his beloved.

As Karai had promised him, in the last months of her miraculous and troubling pregnancy she wanted him close but without raising suspicion of her father. So, she arranged this extended vacation on the single condition that his wife's accompaniment would be paid for as well. The woman he'd kept out of Foot Clan affairs; protecting her and shielding her from the truth. Only Saki and his public practice friends knew he'd even been married. So, upon this opportunity, he made it clear. His wife was to accompany him if Karai wanted him to spend three months in Central America, on-call to her alone. In the grand scheme of things, it was a small concession and Karai agreed to it at once.

"I know you tease me, but," she sighed with contentment, "it's so pretty, I can't help but sit here and watch," Aki said and nodded towards the scenery slipping into shadows; the sunset painting a picture of twilight beauty over all the land.

He leaned over and rested his fingertips upon her arm, stilling her knitting for a moment. "I see only loveliness here, right here, which nothing else can compare to."

Her blush was reward enough for his clumsy attempt at romantic words. How long had he last seen her cheeks grow rosy? Sadly, he did not know. Suddenly he rose up. But he knew this: it would not be the last time she blushed on this trip.

She watched him rise with a question in her eyes. Gently he took the knitting from her and set it aside. He took her hands in both of his and helped her to stand.

"Come inside, little ginger root."

Speechless for the desire she felt coming off of him in waves, the rare sight of fire in his eyes, she nodded demurely and allowed him to lead her back into their lavish room.

The buzzing caught his attention immediately as they stepped through the sliding double doors; making his steps falter and any warmth in his body to evaporate instantly; leaving him feeling flushed and chilled.

Aki brought her hand to her mouth; she made a frustrated sound. "Tch, here? Now? I thought you were taking leave?" she asked as he hurriedly crossed the room and picked the cell phone up. He adjusted his glasses and peered at the display, already noting with an ice-cold dip in his gut that it was not his main cell phone, but the one dedicated only to receive calls from her. Karai.

It could be nothing, he thought. She was not due for many weeks yet. She may just need reassurance again. The fears of a first time mother were many: the least he could do was offer her a modicum of reassurance. The poor girl had really gotten herself into a terrible situation full of unknowns; even for an experienced doctor as himself, who had seen his share of bizarre injuries and ailments with his dealings with the Foot Clan.

And yet, something nagged at him. Some extra sensory perception that he'd also gained over the years of treating his young patient, Oroku Saki, tingled and dogged him. Spurring a feeling of unease and dread in the center of his stomach as though he'd eaten some tainted fish; just bad enough to poison, yet not quite enough to kill.

"What could they want from you? You are thousands of miles away," Aki complained and hugged herself tightly. "Can they not contact the doctor on call?"

With a glance to his obviously stricken wife, he held up one palm to silence her. He pressed the screen and lifted it to his face as he spoke into the phone.

"Yes? Hello?"

A voice he did not recognize, blurred by poor reception and background noise that sounded like a monsoon, repeatedly asked if this was Dr. Tsuneo. The voice was young sounding and male. Not Karai. Not even close. The hair on the back of his neck rose up as the dread fear that Venom had somehow tracked her and discovered her location gripped him.

"Who is this?"

"Tsuneo," Aki pleaded. "Hang up."

He frowned deeply and waved his hand impatiently at her to be quiet. She huffed and stormed into their bedroom. He watched her go with a surge of regret, but the static-disrupted voice insistently cried out from the phone's receiver, bringing his attention back to the matter at hand. Over the buzzing background interference the panic in the boy's voice was frighteningly clear. Not one of Venom's. No. It couldn't be. Why would they be calling in such obvious distress? No. Certainly not. Then, who? He moved it back to the side of his head and hurried into the adjoining room, covering one hand over his opposite ear and listening hard.

"Who is this? How did you get this number?"

"Doctor Tsuneo?" the voice rose, breaking and cracking like a young adolescent's, "Karai. It's Karai. She needs you."

"Yes, yes, I understand," he nodded rapidly and dashed into the closet to retrieve his doctor's bag and the emergency suitcase he'd packed for his friend's daughter. "But who is this?"

"I am," he paused and Tsuneo straightened as the sound of a woman screaming brought his heart to a stop.

"You are he," Tsuneo murmured, thinking of the mutant boy that Karai had somehow gotten involved with, impossible and reckless as it seemed; the one that had disrupted all that his friend had worked for all his life. A moment of anger had him bringing the phone away from his head to stare at the screen in his shaking palm. But it passed as swiftly as it came. He dropped his arm and felt his chest deflate as he exhaled. There was nothing for it. She loved this creature. Beyond all logic and reason. He glanced at the closed bedroom door and sighed. But that was the very nature of love. Wasn't it?

We are all at its mercy. And of that, it has none to give, he thought morosely.

He lifted the phone and thumbed the sequence to locate the caller immediately while still remaining connected. He brought the cell back to his face as he tugged the luggage free from the front closet. "I am coming. Keep her safe. Do nothing until I arrive. But keep her safe," he insisted but received no reply.

His eyes darted about the room, assessing all that he needed to bring, thinking, mind spinning, whirling with what he needed to do. Saki. Did he call him? Should he? Karai was implicit in her orders to keep him out of this entire situation. And yet. He was her father. And she his only daughter. It was more than his life at stake here should something go wrong. He would be executed, no doubt. But that mattered little to him at this moment. Saki was like a son to him. And Karai like a granddaughter. He loved them both, fool that he was. And his heart stumbled in the terror of losing this girl. This wild and fiercely determined girl. A granddaughter he would have been proud to call his own. He could not lose her. He had to move!

He swore loudly in Japanese just as Aki reentered the room. She gave him a baleful look and swept back into their bedroom, slamming the door. He took several steps in that direction but stalled as Karai's wailing froze him in his tracks. Her cries seemed to intensify above the muffled static and background noise.

He stared mutely at the phone as it beeped cheerily with her location. Corcovado National Park. He'd be there in less than twenty minutes. Her scream came again and the young man's voice trying to soothe her overtook it. He was frightened. Stupid child. Stupid children, all of them.

But Karai. His eyes burned as he unlocked the front door of their villa and hurried down the path towards the main house; medical bag under one arm, dragging the suitcase along besides him. His heart raced. Something was wrong. And damn it all, he knew this might happen. That's why he tried to insist that she stay at any of the private health clinics available to her; but she had refused. There was too much at stake. With the Foot Clan still in chaos and Venom's soldiers infiltrating even the most secret of bases, there was no where she felt safe. Nowhere but with him. The father of this unnatural offspring.

"Stubborn, stupid girl," he growled and pulled open the door, dashing across the polished marble to the service desk. He slammed one palm down. "I need a car immediately!"

The clerk, astonished and blinking, set to calling for a car. He whirled and marched out of the lobby as he spoke harshly into the cell.

"Listen to me! Are you there? Twenty minutes. Keep her safe. Do you hear me?"

He ran a trembling hand through his thinning hair. Counting in his mind. Calculating. It was too early. These were not the sounds of a woman in labor but someone suffering needlessly. He wished he'd thought to send her with something to dull the pain in this circumstance but the foolish, head-strong girl would not listen to reason. She screamed again and Tsuneo lost his composure. He took in a deep breath.

"Do you hear me, boy!?" he hollered.

A desperate voice filled the phone, "Yes," he gasped. "Yes, but hurry! Please, hurry. I don't know what to," the voice was interrupted by a fresh wave of static and Tsuneo felt the young man's anguish as if it were his own.

The car pulled up and a young black man gathered his bags and tossed them into the trunk. "There is a private landing strip, four miles south of here."

He answered with a thick accent, "Yes, of course, sir. The one you arrived at?"

Tsuneo nodded. The man pulled away. "Please, as fast as possible. There is an emergency."

# # #

Leonardo hollered into the phone, but realized with a twist in his stomach that the connection had died. Fright of the kind he'd never known before gripped him. He gathered Karai up in his arms as he dropped the phone. Murmuring into her hair, "He's coming, Karai. Twenty minutes." He felt her body, rigid with pain, spasm and shake in his arms. His eyes burned with tears, and they flooded his eyes and ran down the sides of his face to mingle with the rain. The downpour had eased from when she'd first collapsed. The ferns in the glen waved and steamed as the rain turned to misting. He felt her tense. Felt her teeth pinch into the thick carotene of his plastron covered chest. She shook her head with the next pained wail. Her fingers clawing and balling into fists as she quaked.

And Leo's eyes darted around, looking for something, anything to help, seeing nothing. "Shh, I've got you," he said helplessly, knowing there was nothing more he could do. His helplessness was a mountain crushing him; smothering him. "Karai," he started and licked his lips, tasting the sweet water of the rain still lingering on his flesh, "remember the days after you found me, here? All the night sounds that kept you up. You couldn't sleep that entire night. But we watched the stars falling. That night, remember? There was a meteor, or a comet, or-or something, but we stayed up all night watching. R-Remember how you jumped when the baby tapir ran out in front of you that morning?"

He felt her soften slightly in his arms. She shifted a little and he looked down into her tear-streaked face. She was pale and dark circles marred the space beneath her eyes making her look exhausted and spent. Frail. A spike of fear went through him. His Karai was never frail. A surge of protectiveness swept through him.

"I-I . . . thought it-it was a g-giant rat," she panted, making him still. "Th-Thought Splinter f-found us. Thought h-he'd come to-to break us up."

"I wouldn't let that happen," he replied instantly with a grave seriousness. Eyes intense. "Never, Karai. You are my wife. You are everything to me. Nothing will ever come between us again. I swear to you. I swear."

"Always making v-vows," she said as her breath hitched. Her fingertips slipped along the side of his face, brief and barely with enough strength for him to even feel them. Like the wings of a butterfly against his skin. "My brave poet."

And something half-way between a grimace and a smile spread across her face; it dropped away and she frowned, grasping at him with clawing fingers as another spasm ripped through her. She closed her eyes and bit back another scream. It strangled back into a gurgling, groaning sound. Leo clutched her to himself, both afraid to hold her too tightly, and afraid that if he didn't hold her tightly enough she may slip through his arms.

"You're the one that's brave, Karai." He dropped his face into her neck as she held on to him, trembling with the effort of pulling him close. The pain seemed to lessen and he eased back, pressing several gentle kisses to her temple and cheek. "It's okay. I promise. I'll protect you. I won't let anything happen to you, Karai. Karai?"

Panicked, he pulled back a bit more and searched her face, ghostly white in the shadows. Her eyes stood out luminous and deep.

"I know," she said and for a moment, her face was calm, serene. Lovely.

He bent and pressed his lips to hers. "I love you, Karai. I love you," he blurted and the sound of a helicopter had him twisting. He looked at her; a manic glint in his eye. "They're here, Karai! Your doctor. He's going to help you. Y-You're going to be okay."

Karai offered him the closest thing to a smile she could manage and nodded rapidly. "You can trust him, Leo," she choked out.

The ferns swayed violently as the helicopter hovered. Leo turned his shell to cover Karai as well as he could manage as twigs and debris struck them from the turbulence of the copter's propeller. The noise was deafening, but he could feel the vibration running through Karai as she screamed again. Feeling her pain within himself as though it were originating from inside of his body and somehow transferring to her; making him wish with all his might that he could cut the offending source from himself and burn it to ash.

Gladly sacrificing whatever piece of him that had done this to her. But knowing it would be his heart that would burn. Because this was all due to the love he dared stoke inside that offending organ. And because of that, they were both bound to suffer.

The helicopter landed and an aged man leaped down, motioning for him to hurry to bring her inside. He looked from the man to Karai, who with one glance nodded vigorously.

"Oh god, Leo. It's him," she wheezed out and it almost sounded as if she were laughing. The spark of relief and hope in her eyes enough to have Leo jumping to his feet; ducking and carrying her to the side door where the old man awaited. As he rushed to the copter, he noticed the crimson stain between her legs and his stomach rolled and lurched; clenching with terror and anguish.

He stared at Leo for a long moment with circles for eyes. He composed himself. Then, glancing down, giving Karai a once over, he said, "Get her inside. We have a secret location. A clinic set up."

Karai grasped at Leo's neck as he tried to set her down. "N-No! No! You have to come too!" she started and her voice rose to hysterics.

Leo wasted not a second. He clambered into the cramped space, wide eyes darting around at the gathered Foot soldiers squatting shoulder to shoulder. In full uniform, masks and weapons and all. His throat closed but he knelt next to Karai, wrapping one arm over and around her protectively, as she held on to his forearm for dear life with both hands.

Behind him, Tsuneo climbed inside. He patted the pilot's shoulder roughly. "Let's go!"

The pilot nodded, face obscured by a helmet. A woman's voice, slightly accented, answered, "As you command, dear Doctor."

A/N: I appreciate your patience as I work on completing my NaNoWriMo 2014 challenge! If you don't know, aside from school, work and general Mom stuff, I'm also going for the National Novel Writing Month challenge to write a 50,000 word rough draft novel between Nov. 1st and the 30rd! It's CRAZY. But I'm right on target. So far, so good. But! That does mean my FF updates will come slower than you may be used to from me. I hope you don't mind and bear with me. I swear it'll be worth your wait!

Everyone who's stuck with me, who's read and reviewed or sent me PMs on the side, I just want you to know that each and every one of you inspire me to keep writing. My stuff isn't perfect, and some of it may not be for some readers, and that's okay. I just want to thank you for giving it a shot and putting up with my mistakes as well as my triumphs. You are the reason I write. You are the reason I post.

And I just am so very grateful to you all. Yep, even you sitting there, I see you, the one who reads but is afraid to comment, thinking maybe, that you don't know what to say. Well, I appreciate you, too! *TACKLE HUG* XD

I swear I will get the next update out asap! Remember, too, I have other fics that I'm updating along the way as well! Be sure to check them out if you haven't and let me know what you think!

xo