Leo let out a bewildered laugh. "You want to train with us?" He asked, rubbing his head. Tally shrugged, munching on the piece of pizza.
"Yeah." She said.
"Why?" Raph asked. She turned her head toward him.
"Because what you do is cool." She said. "And…I want to be a better fighter. More than just fighting on the streets. I want to actually…"
"Have technique?" Don suggested. Tally shrugged.
"Sure," she agreed. "What you guys do is cool." She went on. "The way you go out on patrols and fight baddies left and right. Who were those guys? The Foot, the Purple Dragons, you guys have enemies. And those guys are the enemies of the city. You guys are like four Batmans, and I want to be the fifth!"
"You're comparing us to Batman?" Mikey asked, eyes sparkling with pride and excitement. Leo patted his shoulder.
"Easy there tiger." He said, before turning back toward Tally. "No offense, Tally. But we barely even know you."
"Leo," Raph butt-in. "As soon as we met April and Casey, they were crawling all over this place, coming in and out whenever they wanted. What's the difference?"
Leo paused, unwilling to say what he was thinking.
"It's because you don't know anything about me." She filled in. She stood up, shrugging. "It's no biggie you guys." She said with a flippant wave of the hand. "I get it, you don't want me to train with you-"
"It's not that." Leo cut in. "It's just…"
"We don't know what Splinter's gonna say." Mikey finished.
"We don't know if he'd be okay with it," Don continued.
"You'd have to talk to him about it." Raph nodded.
Tally sighed deeply. Splinter knew less about her than the turtles did. But if she wanted to train with him, she was going to have to talk to him. She sighed and tied her hair up.
"Now or never," she said, walking over to the dojo.
"Good luck!" Mikey called after her.
Tally waved at him and shinked the dojo door open. She lightly walked over to where she saw Splinter leave earlier and tapped on the screen.
"Enter." A voice said form the other side. Tally gulped and slid the door open, before closing it shut when she stepped in. The small room was weirdly set up. It was small, somewhere between 11 feet by 24 feet. In the middle was a meditation table with incense burning. On the other side of said table was Splinter, who was kneeling with his closed, obviously mediating at the meditation table. Tally you're a moron. Behind him, there was a thin mattress, his bed, with a shelf above it with some antique swords and other knick-knacks. On her side of the meditation table, lay a small cushion. She bit her lip and decided to kneel on it.
There was an awkward silence. It lasted for years.
"Speak." Splinter said finally, opening his eyes, meeting Tally's eyes.
"Uh.." Tally said, wringing her hands. "Sir…Splinter. Master Splinter?" she tried. She shook her head. "Sir." She said again, deciding to use that pronoun. "Sir, would you be willing to train me?" she asked, in a hurried rush.
Splinter blinked, obviously surprised. Tally bit her lip. "Uh…" she continued. "I mean…the guys-they train really well-and obviously you taught them-and I'm sure you're a lot better than them-and I can fight-but I can't fight-not like you can-and I mean, it'd be really cool if you would teach me like-I mean, it's completely up to you-but I was hoping-"
Splinter held up a hand to stop her chatter. Tally could've smacked herself. When she gets nervous, she talks. She talks a lot. Instead of slapping herself, she took a breath and tucked some loose hair behind her ear.
"Why?" he asked finally, in that gravelly voice of his. "Why would you like to train under me, with my sons?"
Tally looked at him, the discomfort of sitting on her legs starting to get the best of her. She wanted to change positions, but that didn't show discipline, and that's what she needed to show right now.
"B-Because I want to be a better fighter." She said. "And I think-I know – you can help me do that."
"How do I know this is not a plot for revenge against the Purple Dragons?" Splinter asked. It was a fair question. "You told me yourself that you were still angry. And your stitches, they are still healing, are they not?"
Tally grimaced. "I…don't really have a great answer for that." She admitted. "But I promise I won't use the skills you teach me for revenge." She said earnestly.
"I do not know you well enough to accept that promise." Splinter said, but he sat back and sighed. Sighing was good right? Sighing meant he was considering it? Tally held her breath, waiting for him to respond.
Finally, he leaned forward again and sighed once more. "One week." He decided. "One week I will train you with the turtles, and we shall see how this goes." He sighed. "Be mindful of your stitches," he said, eyeing a bandage that was peeking out of Tally's shirt, she tugged it down, but nodded. "I will not go easy on you, Tally." He said. She nodded in understanding. He stood up, and she did as well, her leg muscles sighing in relief as she fought to keep the smile off her face. "For now," he said. "It is best for you to go home." He said. "Come back tomorrow at five am."
Tally bit her lip. "I don't know how to get back," She said, spreading her hands. "I was unconscious the first time, and blind-folded the second."
Splinter nodded. "Leonardo will fetch you tomorrow at 4:30." He said. "Give your address to him." He paused. "For the safety of our family I would prefer you to still be blindfolded when you come." She nodded. She'd just have to set up a place for him to meet her. No biggie. And the blindfold thing, she could handle that. Whatever. She nodded again and bowed.
"Thank you sir." She said. He returned the bow.
"Call me Master Splinter." He said, a hint of a smile in his tone. She nodded.
"Master Splinter." She confirmed. She bowed again, before letting herself out of his room, across the dojo, and back into the kitchen, where the turtles were waiting with anticipation.
She grinned. "I'm in." She said triumphantly. "For a week." She amended. The turtles whooped and patted her on the back.
"Excellent!" Mikey grinned. "Celebration with videogames?" he suggested. Tally grinned, but shook her head.
"I'd love to," she said. "But Master Splinter says it's best for me to go home, and get ready for tomorrow." She looked toward Leo, and scribbled on a piece of paper before handing it to him. "I don't want you lurking around my house." She grinned easily, he returned it. "So meet at this street corner tomorrow morning okay?" he nodded, then got a puzzled look on his face.
"When we found you last night, why were you sleeping next to a radiator on a roof?" he asked. Tally laughed, and shrugged goodnaturedly.
"Because sometimes a house full of foster kids is too much to handle." She explained with an easy lie. "So if one of you could kindly show me the way out of the sewers, that'd be cool. Oh, and also. Splinter still wants me blindfolded, so there's that."
Don nodded and stood up, grabbing a clean towel from the drawer. He started to lead the way toward the door before securing the blindfold around Tally's eyes.
She waved behind her, in the general direction of the turtles, and grinned, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice. "See you guys tomorrow!" she called, before Donatello took her elbow and led her out of the sewers.