Fyi: the book Naomi is reading, is really something I once wrote in a weblog and I'd like to share my opinion with you :)
"If I could live every single day without any regret, I could die a happy person at any moment. I would no longer fear death, and have peace with it when my moment comes."
Naomi put her book down when she heard noises coming from outside. She stood up from her bed, opened her window and looked outside.
"Donatello?" she whispered. "Guys?"
"Is the coast clear?" whispered Donatello back from the bushes.
"How should I know? I can't see the coast from here," said Naomi. Donatello and Leonardo looked at each other, neither of them sure if she was joking or not. "Wait there," said Naomi, "I'll come down and open the back door for you."
In less a minute, the Turtles heard a door opening and footsteps coming their way. They stayed hidden, just in case.
"You guys in there?" whispered Naomi. "It's ok. No one's around."
Slowly, all four of the Turtles stood up. As Naomi watched them appear from the thick bushes, she felt somewhat nervous. Ok, this is really weird, she thought to herself. She felt herself shiver a little. She wasn't sure if it was because of the cold or because of them.
"Umm… hi," she said, a hint of anxiety in her voice. "Let's… get inside, ok?"
Leonardo could sense the nerves coming from the teen. He had never fully agreed to coming here in the first place. But Donatello seemed so sure about this…
The Turtles hesitated when they stood in front of the back door.
"You can come in," said Naomi. "Grandpa's staying with some old friends. He won't be back until tomorrow."
Donatello was the first to (carefully) enter the house, followed by his brothers. Michelangelo closed the door behind him.
Naomi looked at the four Turtles standing in the large kitchen. She felt a little strange. Their presence felt familiar, yet distant.
"S-so, umm…" she started nervously. "Donatello told me you used to look after me for a while when I was a kid. Thanks for that."
"No problem," said the Turtle with the orange mask with a smirk. "It's great to see you again, Sis!"
Naomi smiled at him. "Come on in," she said, gesturing to the living room. She looked at the Turtles as they entered the living room and looked around before they settled down.
"Are you nervous?" whispered Donatello. Naomi looked at him.
"For some reason, yeah," she whispered back.
Donatello smiled. "Don't be," he said softly. "Just be you, ok?"
Naomi took a deep breath before she started conversation.
"Ok, so you all know who I am," she said to the four Turtles, "but what are your names?"
"This is Michelangelo, you've already met Donatello, and that's Raphael," said Leonardo. "And I'm Leonardo."
Naomi looked surprised. "… Da Vinci?" she asked. "You're all named after artists from the Renaissance?" The Turtles just nodded. "Wow… that's really cool," said Naomi. "Well, nice to meet you guys."
"That's really weird to hear from you," laughed Michelangelo. "You've really changed over the years."
"Yeah," said Raphael. "Speaking of which, nice umm… outfit?"
Naomi was wearing a knitted hat, goggles on her forehead, a choker with a silver musical note hanging from it, a very wide-sleeved top with some kind of symbol printed on it, a skirt and slippers that looked like frogs.
"Umm… thanks?" she said hesitantly.
"Are you an artist, by any chance?" asked Raphael. Donatello, who was sitting next to him, elbowed him in the upper arm and gave him a look.
"Actually, yes I am," answered Naomi. "I'm different from other people, ok?" A short, awkward silence filled the room. "Have you ever met any other humans besides me?" she asked finally.
The four brothers looked at each other. They had discussed what to do if she would ask that question and they had agreed not to lie to her.
"Yes," said Leonardo. Naomi looked at him. "I see," she said, somewhat sadly. The next question hung in the air, but before Naomi could ask anything, Leonardo started his explanation: "It's been about six years now and a lot has changed. Not too long after you left, we met another person. A reporter. Just like you, she was scared at first, but then it turned out that we had the same target. She promised not to tell anyone about us if we helped her with her story. So we did, and eventually, we became friends."
"And she got to stay in contact with you?" asked Naomi.
"… Yes," answered Leonardo. "Even though we haven't heard much from her lately."
"But then… Is it possible for us to stay in contact from now on?" asked Naomi hopefully.
"Naomi, you have to understand," said Leonardo strictly, "our bond is different. You're still a child. It's too dangerous for you to hang out with us."
"I can't be that much younger than you when you became… what are you, ninjas?" snapped Naomi back.
"We've trained all our lives," said Leonardo calmly. "We're also stronger than most humans."
"Well I was trained in kyūsho-jitsu since I was 10," said Naomi. Everyone stared at her in surprise. "Like what you did to me a few weeks ago, Leonardo," she explained. "I know everything about pressure points of the body and how to temporarily paralyze limbs. Even how to make a person unconscious."
"Is that what you were training the other day?" asked Leonardo. "On the street?"
"Yeah," said Naomi. "Which reminds me: I still have to thank whoever chased my training partner away by throwing that snowball."
Donatello felt a shiver go down his spine. The guilty expression on his face gave him away. Naomi looked at him and smirked widely. "That was so awesome!" she said. "I mean, you got him right in the face! He was really pissed off!" Michelangelo couldn't help but chuckle as well.
As evening slowly turned into night, the Turtles and Naomi enjoyed their reunion until it was time for the boys to go home and for her to go to sleep.
I know, this is another short one, but I'm a little eager to start writing the climax of the story xD It'll probably take another few days, but for now: thank you for reading so far! ^^
