Chapter 9
Avery eventually pushed Mikey away remembering something important.
"What? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, no it's not you at all. I am just afraid for you"
"What? Why?"
"If Kai catches us…" Avery started. Mikey interrupted "He won't"
"But what if he does? He will try to kill us both"
"Then I'll do anything in my power to protect you"
"But what about you?"
"Don't worry about me" he took her hand and kissed her knuckles and moved to her palm "Your life means more to me than my own"
"Oh Michelangelo… please" Avery begged
"I know you're afraid Avery, but nothing will keep me from doing what I have to"
"I know" she said after a while "But…"
"No buts Avery, just trust me" he smiled "You do trust me don't you"
"Yes"
"Then everything will be fine" He leaned down to kiss her again until they heard growling in the background. It was Tam-Tam staring down a huge black two headed bird with four wings.
"Oh no" Avery said as one of the two heads snapped at the lakra "It is a shayda one that belongs to Kai. It was watching us"
"So…"
"That means it will go back to Kai and tell him about us"
"Let him go" he watched as the shayda was finally scared off "We'll be alright"
She looked up to the sky and watched the shayda flee "I hope you are right Michelangelo"
XXX
Back in the village
Dax sat down on the roof of the pavilion with his legs crossed, arms crossed and eyes closed as he checked on his sister's presence.
"Hey Dax" he heard someone call out to him. He opened his eyes and looked down to see Raph and Leo "What are you doing?"
"Nothing really"
Raph looked down then back at him then to his brother. They both easily hopped up onto the rooftop and sat down on either side of him.
"Are you checking on your sister" Leo asked
Dax smirked "Yes"
"Don't worry I'm pretty sure Mikey is keeping a very close eye on her"
Dax smirked again "You know normally any man who would even look at my sister would get hurt" he told them "But not Mikey or any of you for that matter" he closed his eyes again
"You don't have to keep checking on her you know. I'm sure she's fine"
"I know she is, that is why I was checking on your brother that time if he is hurt then both of them are in trouble" he said "I am sorry I get worried very easy"
"You know you never really explained how you were able to do that" Raph mentioned
"Do what?" Dax asked acting as if he didn't know what was going on
"How you're able to tell when people are in trouble or how they're feeling just by sensing their spirits"
"Oh right that" he said innocently "Well around here everyone has a bond with nature" he explained "But I am one of the four guardians chosen to protect the forest and all of the creatures living in it and as a guardian we have an even stronger bond with nature" Leo and Raph nodded "With that bond I am able to tell if someone is hurt or dying. It is like the forest is part of me, whatever is in the forest I can tell what is going on"
"It does have its limits" Dax continued "I can only sense these spirits if they're in the forest or near it. If you are hurt like your brother was and you stray too far from the forest then you could be in serious trouble"
"Good to know, I'll keep that in mind" Raph said
"Now what about this whole guardian thing"
"Being a guardian is both a blessing and a curse"
"How so?" Leo asked
"It is a great honor to protect the others, but we are not really supposed to make any kind of connections with anybody. Friendships, marriage and anything else you can think of we are not supposed to have any of that"
"What? That's not fair"
"They have good reasons for this though"
"They better"
"Let us use your brother Donatello as an example. What do you think will happen when someone is out there looking for revenge against you? Who do you think they will go after to defeat you?"
"I get it, but…" he started
"Do not worry Leonardo, I never said we actually listened" he smiled slyly "We just have to be careful and protect them" he looked down and saw Donnie walking with Nati "It seems your brother has found a new friend"
"Yeah I kinda figured that would happen" Raph said
XXX
Mikey and Avery sat near the cliff watching as the first of the three suns disappeared. Already it was getting darker and little red lights dotted the air around them. He held her hand and let his fingers intertwine with hers.
"The Swiggs are really active tonight" she held out her free hand and one of the red dots landed on it "They are so beautiful"
"Yeah" Mikey copied her and watched as a Swigg landed on his hand "And they're friendly too" he laughed and then looked down at her "Hey Avery"
"Yes what is it Michelangelo?"
"Um do you mind telling me what happened to your parents?" he asked nervously
"Oh… well my mother passed after giving birth to me" she paused and shut her eyes "And my father was poisoned just like you were only we couldn't get the antidote to him on time"
"What about your father? What happened to him?" she asked
"…He became… very, very sick and we didn't have the medicine to help him get better" the grip on her hand got tighter
"I wish you and your brothers met us a little earlier then maybe we could have helped" Avery suggested
Mikey only half smiled and shook his head "Oh Avery I know you would've tried to save him, but…" he took a deep breath trying to hold his emotions back "It was his time to go"
Avery noticed as his facial features changed so she calmly laid her head on his shoulder and he looked down at her. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"Come on, let's get you home"
She looked up into his eyes and nodded
…
Chapter 9 Yay