This is waaay WAAAY too depressing for my taste but damn guys I was really sad and needed to vent the sadness into something. Sadly that something was Leorai, who really doesn't need more of this angst garbage lmao.
WARNING: major character death, angst angst and more angst.
Too Late
Karai let her guilt eat her alive for five long years.
The streets were her home, the past was a ghost that pestered her mind with nightmares and horrific flashbacks. She thought nothing could make her return to that awful place, but love is a strange thing - it makes you break all the walls you built up to protect yourself.
So she returned.
The church stood in ruins, the building having collapsed in on itself as if a giant had rammed his fist against it.
Karai wasn't sure if she was relieved or terrified to find the Foot Clan's headquarters deserted.
It took a few hours of searching, but there he was, her Leonardo. He was sitting on top of a chimney, gazing up at the dark, murky sky. She wondered what he was looking for up there, and felt an ache of longing at the thought of that something being her.
Karai braced herself. She would scale the fire escape and climb up the building, sneak up behind him… She smirked, then she would-
But suddenly Leo lit up in a brilliant smile, his teeth gleaming in the dark along with his bright eyes. Karai watched in both awe and horror as a muscular, tanned woman swept down from above, gliding effortlessly into Leo's arms with an equally happy expression.
Then they kissed.
Tender and deep. Like long-time lovers.
Karai staggered backwards, nails digging into the palms of her hands.
I don't think you're as bad as you pretend to be.
You okay?
I know. You're not good at saying thank you.
You're changing Karai. We wanna help you.
No, no, no! Stop! She covered her ears, turned away from the scene and fled. Fled from the lovers, fled from Leo, fled from the past that thundered inside her mind, fled from the cruelty that was the present, fled until her knees buckled over and her lungs begged for air.
It had been five years, but Karai still vividly remembered the feeling of her father's embrace. The scent of incense, sandal wood, fur and just a hint of citrus. How warm his body was, how fast and hard he'd held her against his chest.
Yes, she remembered. And she longed.
She waited many hours outside the lair, watching its residents come and go, until finally she slid inside the emptied home and towards the dojo. Her father was probably asleep by now, or perhaps just meditating. Either way, Karai's heart began to swell with excitement at the thought of surprising him.
She pushed open the sliding door to his room.
"Father?" Karai whispered into the darkness. She fumbled, found the light switch.
An arrow shot through her heart at the sight that met her.
It was a shrine.
A lovingly decorated shrine. Pictures of Splinter, of Tang Shen, of the turtles and O'Neil and Jones and-
Not her.
She wretched, a sound like something dying exiting her mouth. And finally they came, the tears, they ran down her cheeks and dripped to the floor.
Her father was dead.
The next sound that left her was a heavy sob.
And she hadn't been there.
She stumbled back to the dojo entrance, clutched the frame for support.
"Karai?"
No. Not here. Not now.
Her head snapped towards the lair's entrance, where they all stood. The Hamato Clan; Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, April O'Neil and Casey Jones.
They were all staring at her in disbelief. Of course they'd forgotten about her, or thought her dead long ago.
She didn't want to, but her eyes drifted toward Leo's.
He was as shocked as the rest but… no, no there was nothing there. The spark she thought she saw was just wishful thinking. She'd seen him with that woman. She'd seen the shrine in the dojo.
She'd seen everything and it was too late.
Quickly, she reached into her belt pocket and picked up a smoke bomb, throwing it on the ground and transforming in the smoke. She slithered past them, could hear Leo's desperate shouting of her name vibrate through her entire body.
But she wouldn't respond this time.
She would be as dead and gone as they'd thought her to be.