Disclaimer: I do NOT own TMNT (teenage mutant ninja turtles)!
One Purpose
Chapter 6
"How's the arm?" Jim asked, his warm tones filling the hallway as he closed the front door behind him and hung up his coat.
It was about 1 a.m. and he just came home from work. He grinned when he saw the girl sitting cross-legged on the floor in the middle of the living room with one hand gently laid on one knee while the other hung in a sling.
Apparently, she felt the need that the couch and coffee table had been in the way of her using his fancy Chinese rug for her meditations.
Mai didn't answer, deep in her trance, and the middle aged man simply smirked – this was the ninth time he had come home to this; the girl had a habit of turning his designer living room upside down for her 'feng shui' nonsense as he preferred to call it. Not that he minded that much though, he found it highly amusing.
It was definitely better then coming home from work and having to feel that void that the large building seemed to echo throughout every crack and cringle.
Jim had been married once, something Mai didn't know because she didn't have the ability to see, so she never questioned the golden enlaced with silver ring on the man's finger.
Though it didn't have the tragic story most people would think it had when they saw the ring and heard there wasn't a woman that bared the same ring any longer. But it still stung and left the man with a terrible heartache every time he had to explain.
In many respects, Jim was a loving, caring and generous man, who treated people with respect and dignity no matter who they were or what they did. He didn't smoke, seldom drank and never did any illegal drugs. He never forget birthday's or to say 'I love you'. He was even an exceptional good lover in bed.
And yet his wife left him for another.
If there was one major flaw in Jim's life, it was his passion to help others, eventually making him a workaholic.
No, he never forgot birthday's - he would preorder a gift and send them to the person with a postcard saying he got trampled at work again and wished them a nice day. It was the same with his wife.
Whenever he came home from work, he would spend his last few hours behind his laptop, working to email or file away things that he found too important to leave until morning before going to bed, leaving his wife to find herself falling asleep alone and waking up alone again.
It was no wonder that after years and years of neglect, his wife found someone who did give all his love and attention to her only and left him.
Though Jim recognized his fault in what happened, he never would've thought that the love of his life would abandon their vows to run away with another.
It had been years since then and still the man loved her with all his heart, silently praying every night, hoping for her to one day return so he could prove himself a worthy husband.
But these thoughts didn't roam his mind when entering his house nowadays, for he found himself distracted by the amusement the adolescent was giving him with her bizarre foreign mannerisms.
"Mai," He called over his shoulder while he walked down the hallway to the dining room, undoing his tie "I know you might not be listening, or rather paying attention, but wouldn't it be a good idea if you did these things in your room?" After no response Jim frowned a little, deep in thought himself all of a sudden while he looked at the antique clock that hung on the wall "And shouldn't you be in bed already?"
"No" Mai answered quietly from behind him, she had followed him from the moment he walked passed her.
Jim almost had a heart attack and leaped into the air. Once he was over his hysterics, he frowned at her what should have been a scowl "You really need to stop sneaking up on people"
"I apologize" Mai bowed her head slightly, her lips curling at the edge into a small smile.
Jim simply shook his head with a smile and then regarded her for a moment "But I really think you should go to bed earlier than you do now, I know staying up late is fun and all,-"
"I am not a child, Hudson-san, I am nineteen years old" Mai scowled, a sternness in her voice that suggested that she was the adult scowling a child.
It only made him laugh "Okay, okay" Jim said apologetically, but the sincerity was lost due to the slight snicker in his voice.
Mai sighed, hands on her hips as she continued "Also, the meditative techniques I am using require space and silence, my room is lacking in the former, I cannot do it there"
"Then why don't you go do it outside then? Central park is a great place to,-"
Mai snorted "You are blessed if you think any place outside thick walls in this city can be 'silent'"
Jim scratched the back of his head "Well, yeah, it we do live inNew York, it's called 'the city that never sleeps' for a reason"
Mai sighed deeply. She truly did miss her Masters mansion and dojo, far away from the loud and disturbing city life, buried deep within the Japanese landscape.
"You know…" Jim suddenly began, musing over a solution that would save his furniture and help Mai do whatever she needed to do "…this building always had a rather large attic"
After locating the key, Jim and Mai made their way up the flight of stairs and entered the abandoned attic after unlocking the door and let it creak open.
"Hmmm, definitely needs some dusting…" Jim mumbled to himself looking around and then tried to switch the light on "…and perhaps a new light bulb"
"No need," Mai smiled, listening how quiet it was as Jim face-palmed himself for his dumb remark "this is perfect"
"Well, the place is yours, use it however you like" Jim offered, putting his hands in his pockets and yawning.
Mai turned and bowed deeply "Dōmo arigatōgozaimashita"
Jim blinked, he didn't know a word Japanese, but he had a feeling it meant 'thank you' "…uhm, your welcome?"
Mai's little smile curved her lips again at the sound of his confused voice and stood up right. What a strange bunch of people she has encountered.
Raphael was in a particular good mood the next morning. He had come home with the others sound asleep, so they didn't know whether or not he had been able to find Mai this time and make amends.
Entering the dojo after devouring his cereal and feeding Spike, Raphael sat down next to Leonardo with a bright grin on his usual sullen looking face.
"You appear to be in a good mood, Raph" Leonardo commented as he observed his brother sideways as they waited for their Sensei.
"Something like that" Raphael smirked.
Donatello who was still tired from working on his latest 'secret' project throughout most nights these days, hadn't noticed Raphael's change in mood. But after Leonardo's comment, he started to pay attention to their conversation.
Michelangelo on the other hand was still silently snoring away, he had been quietly playing a video game late into the night and was therefore still catching up on his sleep and not paying attention at all, as usual.
"Don't tell me," Leonardo grinned "You actually found Mai, didn't you?"
"What did she say?" Donatello added, his curiosity giving him an energy boast. He had been very skeptical about Raphael being able to actually apologize to Mai – since they were so different – but seeing Raphael's upbeat demeanor, he realized he had jumped to a conclusion far too quickly.
Raphael's smile became more smug, his voice on the overconfident side "Well, once I apologized and all, she thanked me for bringing back her knife and,-"
"Wait," Leonardo interrupted, his expression changing from surprise to an half scowl "You went after that Toxic-Stinger thing by yourself?"
Rolling his eyes, Raphael snorted at the tone Leonardo was giving him "Please, after that last fight, Toxic-Stinger was hardly a threat,-"
Mad, Leonardo stood to yell at Raphael, waking up a disorientated Michelangelo "Hardly-a-threat?! Are you completely out of you mind?! We could barely take that thing down as a group! Raph, what were you thinking?!"
Raphael was quick on his feet and in Leo's face to yell right back at him "Would you just for once let me finish a sentence and listen to me! I don't need you to baby over me Leo!"
The two teens growled at each other while the two younger brothers backed up a few meters, Michelangelo asking Donatello what the shell was going on when the door slid open.
"What is this noise so early in the morning!" Splinter demanded, scowling at his sons as he approached them.
"We're sorry, Sensei" Leonardo bowed in apology.
"Hmm. What was this yelling about?" Splinter questioned cocking an eyebrow, stroking his long thin beard.
Raphael gritted his teeth when his other brothers stayed silent, leaving him to his own devices. Taking a deep breath he stepped forward, scratching the back of his head while trying to find the right words "Uhm…well, you see Master Splinter, remember that you told me to make amends with Mai?" Raphael stalled a bit before continuing "Well, I did last night, by retrieving her blade to her…"
Splinter had closed his eyes while listening and nodded in approval, opening his eyes "Ah, this is good"
"…by fighting Toxic-Stinger on my own…" Raphael muttered, looking away from his sensei, who hung his head at hearing that.
"So I told him he shouldn't have gone on his own" Leonardo added righteously, crossing his arms. Raphael growled at his elder brother.
"Raphael," Splinter spoke his name loudly to get his attention. Raphael immediately froze up and looked at his father.
Sighing in slight disappointment, the rat-man addressed his second eldest son in a stern tone "Though I do not approve of your recklessness, I am still glad to hear you were able to make amends with Mai" Raphael's stiff form relaxed as he thought he was off the hook "But, if you were to do something like this again" Splinter spoke in low threatening tones "Be sure that there will consequences for your actions"
Raphael swallowed loudly and Michelangelo chuckled quietly, but not quietly enough. As soon as Master Splinter's back was on them, Raphael smacked his little brother and their day continued in its regular pace.
Only for Raphael it felt like it was ticking a bit slower.
At the end of the day, when night began to fall he was ready to leave to be on his way to Mai's place when Leonardo stopped him.
"Raph?" Leonardo questioned raising an eyebrow when he saw Raphael heading out "Where are you going?"
"Uh…" Raphael turned his torso to look at his brothers, who were staring at him with questioning looks "I'm going out" He said brusquely, but fooled no one.
Both Michelangelo and Donatello exchanged looks and grinned widely – they were about to make 'girlfriend-jokes' when Leonardo continued seriously "What about our evening patrol?"
Raphael turned his whole body this time as Leonardo had stepped a bit closer "What about it, Leo?"
"What about it? What's up with the attitude Raph? Normally you're the one more excited about our patrol then all of us combined" Leo commented calmly, not letting his irritation show.
"Yeah, well," Raphael's head started to reel, trying to think up a response that was both logical with which he could go see Mai and snappy so he could put his brother in his place. It wasn't really working out "I thought I…would sit this one out…so you guys can also fight…on your own for once"
He felt stupid just listening to himself.
"Oh really? So this has nothing to with the fact that you made amends with Mai?" Leonardo remarked, a small grin on his face as he saw Raphael open his mouth and close it again "Turtles first, right Raphael?" Leonardo reminded his hot tempered brother with a bit more satisfaction than he should.
But hey, it was not every day that you could make someone regret the words they once said to you – especially if that someone was Raphael.
Mai had been sure he was supposed to be here ten minutes ago. Though she could not actually check the time by looking at the clock, she had however an incredible sense of time since that had been drilled into her brain by her very punctual Master all those years ago.
Feeling a bit anxious and deciding what to do, Mai stood for she had been sitting on the edge of the building, about to go back inside when a sound disturbed the other noises in her surroundings.
Turning her head to where she heard the noise, it had become more and more distinct.
Raphael landed with a loud smack on the roof, his breathing irregular, bend over to support his form on his knees "Sorry *gasp* I'm late" He wheezed.
"Raphael-san" Mai ran over to him, worried he might be wounded, she put her hand on his back "What happened?"
Raphael let himself fall on his butt and inhaled deeply a couple of times to catch his breath before answering her "Nothing really, just patrolling with my brothers, so I had to run several blocks to be here on time"
Mai's worry faded and she smiled "I'm glad"
Raphael blushed when he suddenly realized how close she was to him. She had sunk down, to lean on the balls of her feet, her hand still on his shell. He swallowed.
"Are you thirsty?" Mai asked when she heard him swallow, thinking he might be dehydrated from all the running. She stood holding out her hand to pull him up "Come, I will make us some tea"
Raphael stared at the hand before taking it, a little jolt of excitement shot through him when he took it and once pulled up, she didn't let his hand go, guiding him inside.
Author Comments:
Yellow my lovely's!
UPDATE: Now if you are reading (or rereading the story because of me taking too long to post a new chapter - so, so, sorry) this, it means you are reading my rewritten version of the story (well, rewritten is a big word, more like 'corrected' version) One Purpose.
I am at a stage where I am going to TRY and correct all my mistakes and horrible grammar/spelling in the story, so bear with me for a little while...^^;
So I am busy cleaning the story, if you will, all the way to chapter 12 - after that, I will upload chapter 13 ;)
Anyway, as always, I hope you have enjoyed this chapter so far, let me know what you think and I hope you will also enjoy the rest.
Lots of love,
Siaanna