Chapter 11
There was a peek of grey through the drape of the curtain and Brianna smiled at the Vampire Leader, "Ian, I think you and Lese should head to bed. In fact, we all should. We can continue all of this later on. The sun will rise soon, I didn't even realize how late into the early morning it was getting, I'm sorry."
The leader nodded, and gently said, "Have a nice dream-walk." He guided his wife out of the kitchen and Andrew also stood up. He gave them a slight smile.
"I also have to leave, Matt are you staying?"
"Yeah." Matt grinned.
"As you wish." Andrew rolled his eyes, "Goodnight everyone." He smiled and also left the room. Jacob watched him leave before turning over to the other five, "Kimi, Matt, are you two going to stay in the same room?"
"I don't mind," The two said together.
Bria laughed and shook her head, "Jacob, do you know of a room Leo and I can borrow? Donny also—" She was cut off as the door to the warehouse slammed open and then shut again. Lily, in her full-blown Neko form instead of human, flew past the doorway. However, instead of white she was almost pure bright red.
"Lily!" Bria yelled and they saw the multi-colored hair flow to a stop.
The calico turned back and stood in front of them all, "I know what you're going to say, so cut me the crap. Ciar's figured out how to get passed my senses. He turns invisible, and that's how that mass murder happened back at the Foot HQ. I'm not creating excuses; this is just what I found out. If you look closely, not all this blood is mine. I ran into some Dragons and after Ciar made me kill them off I had a battle with myself."
Lily paused and then turned around, "You…Ellie," she pointed at the woman who had just appeared halfway down the stairs, "Save it. I see you're pissed and I don't want to fight you. That would be a very bad idea. I'm leaving, and hopefully you won't have to deal with me again."
She turned back to the kitchen and held her hand up, "Donatello, I heard your thoughts, as surprising as that was at the moment I was in. I understand that you feel you've lost me, and that is fine. I won't jeopardize this family anymore with my uncontrollable killing sprees. The pact with Ciar is broken and thrown into the dark depths. I'm going to find a way to get rid of him, Don, jisatsu or other." She didn't dare walk closer to them, so she tossed what was in her hand onto the table.
"I love you, I'm sorry it had to come to this."
With that, Lily turned around and the harsh winter wind seemed to take her as she disappeared into it. The door swung lazily as the only sign the cat shape-shifter had left.
Both Rachel and Matt were hit hard at the gesture, but Don was hit harder. He picked up the ring, and Rachel carefully reached over to touch his shoulder, but Don stood up and said in a soft voice, "Save it, Rae." He walked out of the kitchen, wondering if he could track her. Rachel let her hand fall as he left, feeling a bit hurt. Now she wondered if not saying anything about the vision caused this. Kimiko's voice of reason wasn't helping at the moment, so she turned her out.
Don did indeed try to track Lily, but he wasn't able to find her. He didn't know where she was or anything. He felt bad, but he still hoped that she would change her mind, and come back. That she would come back, safe.
'If only we could talk, everything could be solved. I can't change your mind, I know…' He thought to himself, but he couldn't bring himself to believe it. He would want to change her mind; he wouldn't want her to do anything.
Brianna bit her lip, "When I called for her, I wonder if she thought I was going to chew her out. I don't do that…and I think she was too out of it to remember." She placed her hand over her forehead, "I was only concerned…I wasn't going to do anything except help her clean up."
"Bri, I don't think it was your fault…" Raph attempted to speak up, "We could've probably talked to her, but then Ellie came down and that made Lily feel rushed to leave again."
"How in the world did you get so mellow and wise? I thought that was your Brother Leo's job," Bria half-joked since her mind was still on Lily. She glanced down at the said leader who actually raised his head at that.
"Oh man, he moved! The world is coming to an end!" Raph and Bria both said sarcastically. "Anyway, I think you're right, Raph…Lily looked as if to be pausing to let us talk, like she was hoping for one of us to stop her, but then Ellie appeared."
"Wonderful, if I didn't know any better, you two would have been Lifebonded and me and Rae would be skipping off." Leonardo replied, making Rachel blush a faint pink. "We shouldn't pin this on just Ellie." He said, getting back from his sarcasm. "It was bound to happen, I feel terrible that Lily might consider suicide, but I'm sure that Kimiko would agree with me when I say that it's best if we just leave them alone."
Ellie appeared in the doorway, silent and hidden in the shadows, but Rachel, Matt and Jacob knew she was standing there. It wasn't hard to sense a shape-shifter, if they knew them and knew them well. "We're all hurting." The Future Seer spoke, "The moment I refused to say anything, this is what Fate unravels." The redhead looked over at Matt and Matt gently placed an arm around her, comfortingly in her own way. "I agree with Leo, however, Lily and Don need their space…we don't have a lot to talk about."
The two girls left the kitchen and Ellie appeared from the shadows, watching them leave. "……It is my fault. I chased her out when I merely glanced. The blame is pinned on me as it rightly should." As she watched the girls leave she looked over at the three that were left. Well five if she included Jacob and included herself. "Talking does wonders, it's stronger than actions, even though actions speak louder. I don't know if I glared, glanced, or what I did to scare the Neko off. I'm still upset, that we brought a……an uncontrolled shifter…but if I had known before hand, I wouldn't have done what I did tonight."
"We all were misinformed, and for good reason." Jacob replied, speaking up. "I have a feeling, that as the morning comes higher, and the night comes darker, these times are just going to be harder. Rightly so…"
"I hope Lily will be alright, in any case…" Brianna frowned and then yawned, "Come on, guys. We have a busy day later on, so let's get some rest before we tackle or discuss anything more."
"I second that," Raph lazily held up his hand his dark brown eyes half closed in their droopiness. "If Don comes back, since Rae decided not to board with me, he can join me. Right now I'm going to find a random empty room and crash."
"Make sure you make it to the bed," Bria joked as she watched the red-wearing ninja stand woozily. She smiled as he just waved her off.
"Ellie, help the poor man to a room, please," Gabriella's yawned request came from the bottom of the stairs. She saw their curious looks and she waved a hand, "I just came down to get some water, don't mind me…"
"Stay near the railing, Gabri, I'll get it," Bria chuckled and went to the sink.
Ellie smiled and carefully lead Raphael into a different room, once she did that Jacob's presence told her she wasn't alone. "What do you think?" She whispered as the door shut and she walked up another set of stairs to go to her own room.
"I think that the connection is being blocked or even damaged," Jacob replied.
"Lifebonded, aren't they? If the connection—"
"They'll solve it." Jacob soothed his love, "It's just a lover's spat. There are plenty of them going around, and each will be fixed. I just worry about the training room tomorrow. Sammy's going to set fire to something or who knows what."
Ellie giggled, "We'll fix it just as we always have."
"Hai," Jacob smiled, "That I agree on."
Back in the kitchen, after Bria gave Gabriella her water, she joined Leo. "Lionheart…I felt it through the connection, but it would be good for both of us if you let it out." She sighed and snuggled his arm, "Tell me, what was wrong earlier. You felt weakened, and your spirit was cut as well as your heart. They still are…" She knew why, but she wanted to hear him vent instead of having to read it through their connection as he kept it inside. She just wanted to listen to his problems like he listened to everyone else's.
"You hung around Andrew too much." He said weakly, smiling a bit sadly. "Rae is as much to blame for not telling, but it's me that failed. There were so many things I should have realized that I didn't, so many…she hinted. I know she hinted because she does it. Every vision, always, always had a hint. She told us to be careful, I know her eyes strayed. I didn't catch on until too late that she was looking at Mikey. I failed to realize that she was trying to tell someone, anyone, in her own way." Silence, "I feel terrible about Don and Lily, I feel really bad for Raph and Rae, but what I said is the truth. You and Raph are starting to mirror each other, Rae is slowly falling out of the connection, and me…I don't know if I'm a mirror looking at two reflections, or what."
A deep breath, "I just think that this night wore us down emotionally, and I failed to realize so many things. I let everyone down. I'm leader, and I watched my own little brother and his love get captured. I didn't do anything about it! I failed to realize that Rae hinted so subtly that something was going to happen, and look what it did! I should have seen this, Bria. I should have……I should have been prepared."
"I know Fate has a reason for everything, and I know that there are prices to pay for things that happen, but I still can't shake off that fact that she hinted and I missed it! It's causing all of us to suffer!"
Brianna held her tears, and smiled sadly yet relieved, grateful he had let her listen. She hugged him tightly and felt him grip her in return, "A lot of us should've seen it. Actually, I think the only one who did catch it was Mikey, and he was careful all the way until that time. In that precious moment he forgot and was injured. There was nothing else you could've done, my Lionheart."
Bria rubbed her face against his ninja kimono top and breathed in his scent deeply, "On another note, for another statement you made, Raph and I are not starting to mirror one another. That topic of what scared Lily off was him and first impressions with Ellie, and me just being observant. I saw how Ellie was glaring at Nao when we got to the training floor, and how Lily was shrinking back signaling that it was about her."
She sighed, "Rachel may be slipping in the connection, but like with Don and Lily it takes something drastic to break them. Even with those two in question, Don isn't willing to let her go and Lily feels that, is relying on that to help her come back. They're connection is weakened, but not breaking. Sister's lies are made with the intention of keeping Raphael safe, and he knows that. Maybe not consciously, but he knows. Unlike their past life that Ian explained where Kathrin didn't appear to care much, Raph is holding onto Rachel with every fiber of his being, despite what she's throwing at him. It's like she's creating tests for him to take, and he's passing each and every one of them."
Leo gently kissed her lips. It was simple, but breath-taking. "I'm glad, so…so glad that I'm lucky." He murmured to her. "That we aren't in that position, and I hope we never will be." He was talking about the couples and how he was so glad that Bria was trusting, faithful and loyal. Lily and Don were like that as well. "Thank you, my sweet. For listening to me," He gently kissed her again.
Brianna closed her eyes and kissed back deeply, to her satisfaction surprising him in the process. They hadn't kissed sense he had changed into a human, and this felt so right, so needed. Without them even trying, it seemed to grow.
He gently pulled away and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, "We should get some sleep, my braveheart." He murmured to her, "Otherwise we won't have an energy doing what we need to do today." Without a warning he stood up and picked her up bridal style, making her squeak. He focused on auras and found an empty room for them to sleep in. He walked out of kitchen and opened the door to the bedroom, gently laying her on the mattress, before following her.
Bria smiled and kept her arms around him, always somehow touching him, "Leo…I love you. Honestly, I don't know what my life would be like if you weren't here with me." She kissed him softly, "Before, I thought you hadn't kissed me since your change because you were still unsure…" she admitted.
"No, braveheart, not unsure…" Leo murmured, "Just respectful." With that he kissed her deeply to show his love, and soon the morning was just a blur of pleasure and dreams.
