Chapter 10- It's Decision Time
"What do you think is going on?" Mikey mused as he and his brothers lounged in the living room back in the lair.
"Something big to keep the girls away for 4 hours." Raph mumbled from his chair.
"…What if they decide Kim has to be queen now?" Donnie asked quietly.
Mikey, Raph and Donnie looked over at Leo on the edge of the long couch in curiosity. He looked up and sighed.
"Well then she's queen. End of story." Leo replied
"What story?" Mikey asked, "You mean your story? Are you saying it will be the end of your story?"
Before Leo could reply the guys could hear voices echoing around them before Violet, Lilly and Riley orbed in behind them. The guys looked behind and gasped at the sad faces that greeted them.
Donnie, Mikey and Raph jumped to their feet and embraced their girlfriend's quickly and they returned the hugs tightly.
"What happened?" Donnie asked
"Kim has to get married." Riley whispered, causing the guys all to gasp.
Raph, Donnie and Mikey pulled away from the girls and looked over at Leo who stood frozen in shock.
"What?" He asked, walking over to the group.
Violet sighed. "The Royal Court." She whispered, "They wouldn't accept a half-blood as their ruler. And it's all Renaldo's fault!" She hissed the name, "He got into their heads and convinced them Kim shouldn't rule. They agreed to give Kim a chance, but that chance is a marriage within the next 30 days."
"If she doesn't get married in time the court will take this as a sign that Kim won't accept the realm's rules and traditions. They'll never accept Kim as their queen and will revolt. She will have to abdicate the throne to Renaldo." Riley added
The guys were stunned into silence and they couldn't look at Leo. Finally, Mikey broke the silence.
"So…where is Kim?" He asked
Lilly looked up at him sadly. "She's at home." She looked over at Leo with a small smile. "She's deciding on what to do. She doesn't want to force Leo to marry her."
"What do you girls think she should do?" Raph asked
The girls sighed and dropped their heads.
"Don't make us decide, too." Riley mumbled, leaning against Raph's plastron.
"Because we love you, Leo." Violet said with a smile. "You're family. We wouldn't want to force you into anything, but this is our birthright. It's who we are." Violet looked down at the ground. "Making that big of a decision is hard. Especially when we all know that Renaldo will lead the kingdom to misfortune."
Donnie kissed the top of Violet's head and looked over at Leo with an unreadable expression.
"What are you going to do?" He asked
Kim sat behind her bedroom door with her back up against the wall and her legs pulled close to her chest. She was wearing simple back slacks and a white tank top. She couldn't stop the sobs that escaped her lips and the tears that flowed freely down her cheeks. Kim wrapped her arms around her legs tightly and buried her face in her knees, not caring about anything else.
She had arrived home exactly 45 minutes ago and she had immediately slammed her bedroom door shut, locked it, slid down against it and cried. She didn't move until 5 minutes ago when she decided to change into something more comfortable, only to sit next to the door and cry again.
"I-I don't know what to do m-mum." She cried, looking up at a picture of her and her mum that hung on the wall in front of her. "I-I can't do this. Please don't make me do this."
Leo jumped across the rooftops quickly, rushing over to Kim's apartment. He saw it out in the distance and sped up. He landed gracefully on the roof and looked around for the balcony that would lead to Kim's room. Once he saw it, he jumped down and walked over to the French doors. He held up his hand to gently tap on the glass when he peered inside and saw the love of his love curled up against the far wall sobbing her heart out. His heart broke at the sight. Leo sighed and gently tapped on the French doors, causing Kim to lift her head up in surprise.
Tap, tap, tap
Kim lifted her head up in surprise at the tapping and turned to see Leo standing outside the French doors. She wiped her tears away stubbornly and walked over to the doors. She kept her eyes locked with his as she unlocked and opened them. As soon as they were open Leo rushed forward and embraced Kim tightly and comfortingly.
Kim didn't need to ask why Leo was there. She knew her sisters would have told him and his brothers as soon as they got back to the lair. She didn't care at the moment. All she cared about was having Leo's arms wrapped securely and tightly around her.
Leo gently picked Kim up bridal style and walked both of them over to her bed where he gently placed her down. He took off his elbow and knee pads, and his katanas before he crawled over to Kim and held her to him softly. He soothed her and whispered comforting words to her as she cried, neither of them saying anything, just being there for each other.
Kim could hear the sounds of birds as she slowly stirred out of sleep. She groaned and flew her hand to her eyes to block the sunlight that streamed in through her open French doors.
'Open?' Kim thought before she bolted up in a panic, looking around her room.
Kim sighed in relief when she noticed a familiar green form lying next to her with his arm draped over her stomach. She smiled sadly at the memory of last night and sat back down, nestling close to Leo's plastron as he pulled her closer. She watched him sleep, a smile forming on her face. He looked so peaceful as he slept and she couldn't resist caressing his cheek with her fingertips. She pulled them away and continued watching him sleep, loving the way he looked early in the morning, innocent and peaceful.
"Would you please stop watching me sleep? It's quite unnerving." Leo whispered, causing Kim to cry in surprise and fall off the bed.
Leo chuckled, sat up and crawled over to the edge of the bed. Kim's top half of her body was firmly on the ground, her hair sprayed around her and she had her arms crossed with an adorable pout on her face.
"Sorry." Leo chuckled
"It's not funny." Kim grumbled as she stood up and fixed her shirt. "Come on, ninja. I'll make you breakfast." She added before she snapped her fingers and was dressed in jeans and a black ¾ blouse with her hair neatened up.
Leo watched her go and shook his head.
'You're avoiding the subject.' He thought before he sighed and got up and followed her.
Leo walked into the kitchen and saw Kim was already taking pancake mixture out of her cabinet. He sighed and walked up behind her and leaned against a bench, watching her take out her ingredients.
"You're avoiding the topic." He said simply.
Kim stopped in mid air as she held an egg over her pan and brought the hand back down with a sigh.
"No, just delaying it." She replied, not looking back at Leo.
Finally Kim turned around and smiled sadly at Leo. "What do you want me to do?" She asked, "Because I honestly don't know. I mean, how the hell am I supposed to make this kind of decision?" Leo didn't say anything and she rolled her eyes. "I'm actually asking you!" She cried
"I don't know what you want me to say, Kim." Leo said quietly.
"I just want you to make the decision for me." Kim muttered, rubbing her hand against her forehead. "I don't know what else to do. I mean, I either keep the throne, rule Rayon, get married and lose the love of my life or I keep you and risk Rayon being ruled by the hands of that traitor!" She threw her arms up in the air and crossed them. "So-so if you have-have a better suggestion, let's hear it! 'Cause I-I've got nothing! Alright, don't be shy, any suggestion will do."
Leo kept silent and watched Kim as she looked up at him with pleading eyes.
"Did you want to get married?" Leo finally asked.
"What?" Kim gasped, "No, not an arranged marriage."
"What if it wasn't an arranged marriage?"
"Well, I didn't... I didn't think that was an option." Kim replied honestly.
"What if it was an option?" Leo asked, walking up to Kim and holding onto her arms gently.
"Why? What, do you want get married?" Kim asked
"I wouldn't mind being married to you. Would you mind being married to me?"
"No. No, not if... not if that's what you wanted, because I don't want to force you into anything. I mean, is... is that what you want?"
"I want you. So...okay." Leo answered
"So…Really? We're...we're getting married?" Kim asked
"We're getting married." Leo confirmed, kissing Kim gently on the lips. "Now I have to get home before Master Splinter kills me. I love you."
"Love you, too." Kim replied as she watched Leo jump out of the living room window into the morning until he was out of sight.
Suddenly a thought occurred to Kim that made her at a loss for words and breath.
"I…I'm getting married." She whispered, a slight smile growing on her face.