This is the Shard!verse follow up to "of Rats and Men." In Shard's universe, her presence keeps the rats away from the general vicinity of the house (they don't call it a lair), so Falco ended up experimenting on stray cats instead.

I figured Mikey deserved a second shot, since Happy Baby was a little short. Raph's and Leo's stories are still coming, but they're both much longer, too.

A Cat May Look at a King

The smoke from the incense curled through the air, wreathing the dojo in a sweet haze, but it brought her no measure of calm this night. Though she tried her utmost to still her mind, she could still feel him within it.

I'm inside your very soul… revel in the madness, my sister…

I've got what I came for…

A terrible shudder wracked Shard's body as her eyes flew open, fleeing from the darkness within her mind to reassure herself that she was indeed alone. A shaking breath left her in a rush, and she looked down, scowling at her trembling hands. The violation of her mind had been bad enough… but what she had almost done to her children because of it…

A soft sound caught her attention, and she raised her gaze to the doorway. "Michelangelo?" she called softly.

Her youngest peeped around the corner, his blue eyes wide. "Uh, hey Sensei." The rest of him followed, and he crossed the room to kneel before her, though there was a newfound hesitation to him as he entered her presence. Giving her a small, hopeful smile, he held out his hands. "I brought you some tea. And a fishsicle."

The corner of her mouth twitched despite his obvious sincerity, and she accepted the fish from him first, as it was the most in danger of melting. "That is very thoughtful, my son."

He smiled quickly before looking back down at the cup of tea he held for her. "Well, you know. I thought you might be hungry and all. After… y'know."

She bowed her head. "Yes. I know."

As she nibbled at the frozen treat, her teeth tearing dainty strips from its flesh, she watched her uncharacteristically quiet son. Unbidden, memory flashed before her. Michelangelo, cowering at her feet, his eyes filled with terror.

No….You tell me NO?

She had not marked him - though not for lack of trying. Were it not for the quick thinking of her remaining sons who had rushed to restrain her, her claws might have found him. And though she had not physically harmed him, there were scars on him yet that needed healing.

Finishing with the fishsicle, she set the stick aside and accepted the cup from him, smiling as she saw which one it was – the sole remaining cup from the set she and Yoshi had owned in Japan, rescued from the fire and brought with her to America. The cup had been broken long ago, which had devastated her at the time. Yet through the thoughtfulness and ingenuity of all four of her sons, they had managed to repair it, the cracks gleaming with gold lacquer.

Kinstukuroi. It was beautiful in its brokenness.

It had not been mere chance that Michelangelo had chosen this cup.

Yet he flinched as her fingers brushed against his. Shard paused, a pang aching deep in her chest, before she raised the tea.

The sweet steam wreathed her head, mingling with the incense, and she breathed deeply of it. Michelangelo had chosen one of her favourite green blends, yet there was something else to it. Something… lovely. Intoxicating even. She breathed deeply again, trying to place the addition.

Her eyes flew open suddenly. "Michelangelo!"

His blue eyes wide, he held up his hands. "I know, I know, but it's only a little tiny bit, Sensei, I promise! Not enough to do… that thing we won't mention in this house ever again. Just enough to make you relax a little. I thought…" He looked down at his hands, pressing his fingertips together. "I thought if you could feel good again, you—" He broke off, knotting his fingers together.

Shard raised a brow. "Go on."

He peered up at her. "…you might not be mad at me."

She let out a long breath, her hands curling around the cup. "Michelangelo," she said softly. "That was not me."

"Oh, I know! I know! I just—"

Shard shook her head, forestalling his fumbling attempts to articulate herself. "It is all right, my son. I understand." She looked down at the cup again, breathing the irresistible scent. "Where did you even get this?"

"Oh, April brought a toy mouse for the cat!" he said, brightening. At her glance, he shrugged. "She didn't know about the rule. Donnie figured out what was in it a second before we did, though, so he got to her first and stopped her from being too squished when we all jumped on her to get it away."

Another smile tugged at her mouth at the vivid mental image. "Poor April." Slowly, she swirled the tea in its cup. "And you thought to keep it because…?"

Michelangelo glanced at her sheepishly. "I thought it might come in handy for emergencies." His expression turned eager. "I promise, Master Shard, it really is just a tiny pinch."

Catnip was a banned substance in her house for a very good reason. And yet, in such a small amount, it was likely harmless. Her gaze shifted between the cup and her son's hopeful face, and she heaved a small, resigned sigh. "I suppose this would count as an emergency," she admitted. Beneath his delighted watch, she raised the cup and lapped at the tea.

It was not long before a pleasant, lethargic warmth worked its way thought her tense muscles, and she found herself beginning to relax despite herself. In that way he sometimes had of showing a remarkable emotional intelligence, Michelangelo had been right.

"This is quite wonderful, sweetheart," she said.

He beamed at her. "Oh, good! Does that mean we can keep the mouse around?"

"I did not say that."

At that, he offered her his first genuine smile of the night as he shrugged. "Well, it was worth a shot." He tilted his head. "But I did good?"

"You did. And not for the first time tonight." She twitched an ear as a pleasant tingling spread beneath her fur. "How did you know that the Cat King could not control a cat made of ice cream?"

He grinned at her. "I just had a hunch. I'm a genius like that."

"Mmm-hmm." She lapped a little more at the tea. "And exactly how long did you have the cat before you mutated her."

"Uhh…" he considered that. "About thirty seconds?"

"Ai yah." Finishing the tea, she set the cup aside. "Still, she did indeed help save the day. We must be glad of that."

Michelangelo nodded emphatically. "And I really do think she's happier as ice cream! I mean, I love her and all, but she was kinda mangy-lookin' before the whole melting thing, and she's in a good mood all the time now!"

"I can see that much," Shard agreed. "And who could blame her, with one such as you to love her? It would take a hard heart indeed to be unhappy in your presence." But as she watched, his smile faltered, and it did not take April's sensitivity to read his thoughts in that moment.

You were.

In all the years she had been as she was, through all the trials she had endured in growing accustomed to her new form, she could take solace in the fact that her children had never feared her. Respected and been intimated by, yes. But never feared. And yet, there was fear in Michelangelo's eyes when he looked at her now.

"Do you know what the worst part of it was?" she asked.

He looked up at her, and shook his head solemnly.

Her gaze was soft as she regarded him. "Knowing that he might make me hurt you. I could never have forgiven myself had he gotten his way."

Distress crept across Michelangelo's face, and he reached out a hand to lay it lightly against her wrist. "But it wasn't your fault that the Cat King's a grade-A jerk!"

"No," she agreed, amusement at his colourful vernacular warming her voice. "And he learned better. He claimed that I belonged to him, and you know how I feel about men who believe that."

A soft grin stole a cross his features. He and his brothers knew well her feelings on being claimed by anyone. "You kicked his butt good, huh?"

"Indeed," she said, her tail curling around her knees.

He watched it for a moment, reaching out a hand to brush against it absently. "So, you're in control now, right?"

She considered that for a moment, her ear twitching thoughtfully as she recalled her words to the creature who would have taken her mind and her family from her. "Control is an illusion, my son," she said at last, raising a finger before his mood could fall. "But love? That is a very real thing."

Michelangelo stared at her for a moment before comprehension stole across his features, and she had just enough time to open her arms before he threw himself at her. Her arms closed around him, wrapping him in the folds of her houmongi as he buried his head against her.

"I'm glad you're okay now, Sensei,"he murmured, and his breath carried with it the sweetness of strawberries.

"Ai yah," she said, resting her cheek against his head. "Michelangelo, sweetheart. Do stop licking the cat."

"But she's so delicious!" he protested, turning his face up to her. "Besides, she licked me first! And so do you, when you're being mushy."

Shard considered that with a raised brow. "I suppose you do have a point," she said, and without further warning, she bent her head and began covering his face with feline kisses.

He let out a small shriek, wriggling beneath her onslaught. "Muuuum! Quit it! Gross, you've got fish breath!" But his struggles fell well shy of the force he would have needed to use were he truly intent on escaping her, and his exclamations were punctuated by breathless laughter.

At last, her laughter spent, she showed him mercy, and he buried his head in her fur once again as her purr began to rumble beneath him. Shard held him close, inwardly shaking a little at the thought of what Falco had nearly cost her. Her children were the most precious thing she had in this world, and there would have been nothing on this earth that would have stood in her way had his machinations taken them from her.

"Who's my happy baby?" she murmured against his head.

With a soft, contented sigh, he answered, "I am."