THE TURTLES FILED INTO THE KITCHEN. Their breathing was back to normal after they finished their cool down exercises and did individual katas. The lovely smell of chocolate and cinnamon reached their sensitive nose holes all the way in the dojo. Even Leo rushed to finish the last of his workout to see what the new arrivals were making.
Renet hadn't returned yet. Miwa didn't want to know what she and Sensei were talking about. Her, undoubtedly. They were always trying to find a way to fix her—to find out how to make Miwa feel better, less reluctant and obtrusive. As she flipped through stacks of pancakes, she let her anger simmer. The whipped cream was already finished and in the fridge. She wanted to stab something. Preferably Shredder.
Miwa wondered if she would even have the guts to kill her father when the time came. If that time came. What if she caused these turtles to die, too? Was she a walking, killing death magnet? What if Miwa was destined to always cause destruction? She flipped a pancake so heavily that hot batter splattered onto her arm.
She hissed in pain, but barely felt it.
"Do those have chocolate?" Mikey asked her excitedly, leering over the stove to look at the pancakes swirled with banana slices and dots of brown chocolate.
"Yes," Miwa took a deep breath, trying to find her calm. Mikey was often her favorite turtle (mostly when Donnie did something to piss her off) even though he was occasionally a pest. He made her laugh and he was surprisingly perceptive. He was the first one to know that Miwa was pregnant. He noticed a change in her skin before her missed period. The thought made me mouth quirk. He is such a shellhead.
"Where's Renet?" Raph asked, plopping down on one of the stools by the bar. His naturally gruff demeanor didn't bother Miwa. Leo peered inside the fridge and grabbed two bottled waters, tossing one to his hot tempered brother. They both chugged the water.
"Probably sleeping," Mikey said, unbothered, "I'll go wake her up."
"She's not here." Miwa said before he took off, adding another pancake to the ever growing pile. All four brothers stared at the lovely Asian. "She's reporting to Splinter."
"I thought you said interdimensional travel was dangerous." Donnie stated, obviously threatening to start an argument. "That's why I shouldn't work on the devices, right?" It was a leading question, so Miwa opted to ignore it. The less Donnie knew about the devices and the intricacies of the fabric between worlds, the harder it would be for him to figure out.
"Renet's a timestress. An Apprentice Time Master. She's from the future. She can travel to any point in time on any world. She's exempt from the rules that bind us to our worlds."
"Are you a timestress?" Mikey wondered. Miwa placed more pancakes on a plate, wondering why the stack wasn't getting taller anymore. The pancakes didn't look flat. Her pancakes were never flat.
"No." Miwa rubbed her tired, bloodshot eyes.
"Then why can you travel between worlds? Why didn't the other Master Splinter come with you? He could have helped you defeat Shredder the other night." She winced, knowing that Raph's words were one hundred percent accurate. She missed her Sensei, but was resigned to the fact that she would never see him again.
"Renet can use her time staff to take her to any place or time on any world. She could take you anywhere in your world, but not another. That's why we needed a portal. Renet has trained her entire life to harness the staff's power. It's channeled through her body, which strengthens her. She's physically able to make the journey without any side effects. I need the portal because I would die going her way. So would you all. Sensei is old now. He would be in even worse shape." Miwa shrugged, flipping and stacking. "Renet and I couldn't be sure he'd make it through the portal either."
"I still don't understand. Isn't the portal just like stepping through a doorway?" Leo listened intently to Miwa, waiting for Donnie to intercept and claim that she was lying or what she was saying wasn't possible.
"Yes," Miwa said, "but let's say the doorway is tiny. The portal shifts your molecules around so you can physically fit through the miniscule opening. Then the doorway on the other side puts you back together. Like a puzzle."
Donnie's eyes widened. "A threshold that breaks organs and armor into its most basic form? This is way beyond anything I thought the Kraang were capable of."
"So that's what happens when Kraang come to Earth from Dimension X?"
Miwa addressed Leo's concerns, "Sort of. Dimension X is unique to your world. It's like the Kraang are only interested in harvesting your Earth. They've never messed with mine or any others. Renet thinks it's because Dimension X is closer to you. It's like Earth is America and X is Canada. Your borders touch and it's easy to move back and forth."
Mikey said, "And your world is like Europe! It's so far away they can't get to it."
"If my calculations are correct, Miwa's world would be more like Pluto."
"Hey!" Miwa yelled suddenly, hitting the back of Mikey's rough hand with the spatula. He leaped out of the way, laughing, and shoved three more pancakes in his mouth.
"I'm humry," he tried to speak while chewing.
Renet popped out of thin air just then. A bright glow emanated through the lair. Splinter, April, and Casey came out of the dojo to watch. Renet walked out of the light, scepter glowing. She held an assortment of weapons wrapped in black velvet in the other arm. Miwa breathed a sigh of relief, finishing off the last of her pancakes.
"We can eat now." She gave Mikey a pointed glare, but he only smiled sheepishly and sidles up to Renet's side.
"Thanks for getting those for me." Miwa told her friend, but she didn't say anything. She dropped the sack on the couch and walked out of Miwa's reach. Instead of starting a fight, Miwa ignored her attitude and unsheathed her wakizashi, smiling slightly
It felt right to have her ninjato in hand. She'd been living a lie before in Shredder's uniform using Shredder's weapons. It wasn't who she is. While Leo and Donnie set the table and Mikey said good morning to Ice Cream Kitty, Miwa admired her weaponry. Raph stood next to her. "That's pretty impressive," he told her begrudgingly, "Most ninjas only use katanas. Shinobigatanas aren't widely used. Neither are wakizashis."
"I was originally trained with a tanto, but these are longer and allow me a better range, especially against taller enemies."
"Karai uses a tanto." Raph muttered gruffly.
"I know." Miwa said sadly, wondering about her counterpart. "Maybe she's being brainwashed. There might be a way to get her on our side. I joined you when I was sixteen. How old is Karai?"
"Twenty."
"Oh." If Karai was twenty, Miwa thought, that means the turtles are around the same age. Miwa was twenty-three. She was twenty-two less than three months ago. Renet was still twenty-two, but age was something that didn't really apply to Renet. "I've always wondered," Miwa said, trying to change the subject, "Why the sai? You could have katanas like Leo."
"Why would I want to be like Leo?" Raph growled, narrowing his eyes at her. His red mask was vibrant against his dark skin, painting an interesting contrast. He looked haunted.
"You don't have to be like Leo. But katanas are excellent weapons when they're made of high quality steel and maintained properly."
"Did you swallow one of Donnie's textbooks? I chose the sai because it allows me to be closer to my enemy. It gives me that intimacy that a bo or katana doesn't have. I can be inches away from my victim when I kill him. I can look in his eyes."
From the horrified look on her face, Raph figured she'd taken the bait. "You're demented." She muttered and he burst into laughter. He was inches away from her now, but he backed off, not noticing her white-knuckled grip on her wakizashi.
"I'm just kidding," Raph chuckled, "I didn't choose the sai; it chose me." He walked away, leaving Miwa to ponder whether or not Raph was criminally insane. Finally, she shook herself and sat at an empty chair around the dining table. Leo passed out the pancakes and each individual slathered butter, syrup, and homemade whipped cream on their portion.
"Don't worry," Donnie whispered in Miwa's ear. His breath was warm. She shivered at his closeness. "Raph is just messing with you. You has a weird sense of humor."
"No kidding,"
"Want to help me with the Shellraiser when we're done?"
Miwa smiled, excited about the prospect of being with Donnie for any extended amount of time. She could sit with him and listen to his sweet voice and his occasional nervous stammer forever. Even his gap teeth were appealing to her. "Sounds like a plan."
"Soooo…" Mikey started, tearing into a massive pile of pancakes slathered in pizza sauce and whipped cream. Renet didn't seem to mind or pay the combination any concern, but it repulsed the others. Ah, Miwa thought, true love. "It's obvious that Renet and other me had a thing in your world. Does that mean you and other Donnie had a thing?"
Renet choked on her bite. She sputtered, trying to dislodge it from her throat. Mikey passed her a glass of milk which she chugged, dribbling it down her chin. Miwa's face grew hot; she avoided Donnie's surprised gaze and shot Mikey an annoyed glance. Of course he had to be the one to figure it out.
Leo gaped at Miwa, "Donnie?"
"Seriously, what were you thinking?" Raph added, stretching his green muscle-corded arms behind his head.
"Hey!" Donnie erupted suddenly, not understanding why they thought he wouldn't have a chance with Miwa. Sure, he was a mutant turtle, but so were Leo and Raph.
"It is really unusual, Donnie." April told him, "Considering the weird love-hate relationship Karai and Leo seem to have."
"Not to mention the massive crush you used to have on April," Casey added unhelpfully.
"'Used to' being the key phrase. That was like four years ago, Jones."
"Whatever. I'm just stating the facts."
During the argument, Splinter stayed silent, content to see how they would conclude it. Miwa still hadn't confirmed or denied Mikey's accusation and didn't act like she was going to hint at it.
Leo said, "Actually, it kind of makes sense. That's why you have that purple silk sash and why you didn't want it to be messed up after fighting Shredder."
Miwa let the words sink in, picking at the rest of her plate.
Donnie asked her, "Is it true? Did we… have a… relationship?"
Renet shot her friend a warning look. The more they knew, the more likely they were to find out about Miwa's tragedy. Miwa wasn't strong enough to explain that issue, but she couldn't deny Donnie the truth after he vowed not to do any more research on the portals. She knew how much that unsolved mystery was calling to him. "Yes," Miwa said lowly and shoved a piece of food in her mouth, showing that she didn't want to discuss it anymore.
Mikey trudged on anyway, ignoring the signs. "How long were you together?"
"Since we were nineteen." She muttered, still not making eye contact with Donnie. He was reeling with the news. It explained her reluctance to touch him. It also explained their moment in the bathroom and how they were incredibly attracted to one another.
"Is this conversation making you uncomfortable?" April said, "Maybe you shouldn't ask anything else, Mikey."
He pretended he was innocent and not causing more awkwardness. Casey wondered, "So how do humans and turtles… well, how can they… does it work like normal?"
"You mean, how did Donnie and I have sex?" Miwa said, deciding she would have to steer the conversation away from the uncomfortable topics they were about to delve into. This was something she and Donnie would have to discuss in private.
"Well, I didn't mean it like that. But, ah, well…" Casey trailed off into silence, staring intently at his empty plate. Raph was laughing in his head and chuckling out loud at his best friend's stupidity.
"You don't have to answer that." Leo was telling Miwa, "It's your own private business."
"Thank you, Leo."
Mikey was watching Renet with interest. She'd gotten over her coughing fit, but didn't give him any more hints. They hadn't gone that far in their relationship yet. Renet was gently introducing Mikey to the sexual world. Before last night, Renet hadn't even realized that she would be the teacher in that situation. It had some serious appeal, especially since he followed all of her instructions and even added a few creative twists of his own when he was comfortable.
They concluded breakfast after Casey's embarrassing interrogation. Raph went back to the dojo to work out, Leo watched reruns of his favorite shows, Casey and April trained further, and Renet and Mikey went back to his room to read comic books.
"I'm really sorry about all that earlier." Donnie's feet were poking out from under the Shellraiser. Miwa couldn't see his face, but figured that he was uncomfortable bringing it up.
"It's alright. You're curious. I get it." Miwa corrected herself. "Curious about my world. Not… um… intimate relations."
"Wrench, please." Miwa placed the tool in his outstretched hand. She sat cross-legged next to the Shellraiser watching him fix the back axle. He'd explained earlier that it might be cracked after Leo drove it into a wall, but he had to get under there to check. "I think we're all curious about that, too."
Miwa's eyes widened. She needed to find some way to distract him from asking more questions about their relationship. "What are you doing down there?" She knelt down and crawled under the Shellraiser, watching as Donnie fiddled with the axle.
"Just testing the strength. I'm hoping it'll last a little bit longer, but that's unlikely considering Leo's poor driving skills."
Miwa giggled. Donnie turned to glance at her, surprised. "You better not let him hear you."
Donnie's face quirked as he listened to the sweet musical sounds that came from her luscious mouth when she was happy. They both sobered quickly. "I'm still curious… why me and not Leo? He's the leader. Isn't that attractive to you?"
Miwa shrugged. "I guess." They were pressed closely together under the vehicle. Her arm brushed his textured skin. She saw his bicep muscles twitch. Although Donnie was the skinniest turtle, he was just as strong and muscular as the others. He was tall as well—taller than her. "I more attracted to your intellect. And your caring nature… and the way you always love and support the people you care about. You always place their wellbeing over your own and you can solve any problem… and…" Miwa trailed off as Donnie began to lean towards, turning slightly so he was pressing his plastron against her sensitive chest. Her eyelids involuntarily fluttered. She cursed herself as her heart hammed quickly, threatening to burst out. She never should have crawled under the Shellraiser…
Donnie brushed his rough finger across her silky flesh, stroking her cheek. Suddenly shy, Donnie stopped moving and watched her reactions. Miwa was obviously enjoying his touch… she wasn't disgusted. Frustrated, Miwa closed the distance and pressed her lips against his beak. He thought he was stumble through it, but Donnie's instincts took over.
He pulled her flush against his body in the narrow space, kissing her hard. They lay locked in the tight embrace for a couple minutes, just exploring, touching, feeling, and kissing. Donnie had never experienced this feeling before, but she was amazingly soft and firm in his arms. She was breathing heavily, fingers moving in slow, lazy circles against his sensitive side.
It was familiar, Miwa decided, but not completely the same. It was better. It was comforting. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Instead of the usual pit of despair, though, she was overwhelmingly happy. This was where she belonged—safe and loved by the one person who understood what she needed by instinct.