This is the last chapter, guys, and it has been one heck of a ride. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this little story. I think this is the first multi-chapter story I've completed in a long time, so thanks to all of you for inspiring me to keep going.
In Microsoft Word, single-spaced, size 11 Calibri font, this story has over 18000 words and a total of 40 pages. It's a monster, but it was worth it.
I hope you all have enjoyed this journey as much as I have! So long for now!
Laughter Lines
They grow up.
They are never free from the Shedder, not really, but as the years pass his presence seems to retreat little by little, giving them all room to breathe.
April and Casey end up together, which doesn't really come as too big of a surprise, but Karai can't help but feel sad for Donnie. So much time has gone by since his crush on her, though, that he takes it well outwardly, and if he and Irma start spending a little more time together, no one comments.
Donnie also ends up going to college through online classes, though how he gets around video conferences, much less the legal hassle, is anyone's guess. Somehow he manages to earn a doctorate in computer sciences by the time he's 22, and then he goes on to get a few more doctorates in various other science and math related subjects.
When Karai graduates from college, April and Casey and Irma and the rest help all the mutants pack up their bags and they head out to the Northampton farmhouse. Kirby sells his apartment in the city and rents a smaller place nearby, and gives the deed to April and Casey. They fix the house up together, and there's room enough for all of them. No one complains. The distance does them all good, especially Kirby, and it gives them a chance to forget about the Shredder for a while.
Leatherhead is the only mutant who stays in the city. He claims it's safer for them, and Karai knows that he feels its true, but his presence is missed, by Mikey most of all. They go back and visit him as often as they can, and they visit Timothy and Malachi (Martin, really, but the name has kind of stuck) when there as well. Mona and Mondo have made their home with the Hamato clan, and Karai has noticed that Raph is interested in Mona and wonders if that will ever go anywhere.
Karai, though, develops a tendency to travel. Sometimes she'll bring April and Irma along, and occasionally Casey as well, but mostly she travels alone. Asia is her usual destination, but never Japan; there are too many bad memories associated with her home country.
Everyone always worries. They worry for her safety, for her mental well-being – they worry she won't come home.
And sure, sometimes she's gone for over a month at a time, but she's a free spirit; she doesn't want to have to settle down. When she eventually finds a job at a small business, she makes sure it's in foreign affairs, so she can continue to travel but on someone else's budget.
But she always makes sure she keeps in touch, even as April goes into psychology like her father, as Casey becomes a professional hockey player and later a hockey coach, as Irma goes into biochemical engineering, as her brothers grow old and find their own little ways of making money and supporting their big, happy family. She'll text and call, and video chat as well. Splinter never worries. He knows that his daughter will always be safe.
And she always comes home, at some point. No matter how hard she tries, she'll always get drawn back into the madness of her family, but she's glad. She'd miss them, otherwise.
They grow up, they follow their own paths, and sometimes those paths diverge from the main trail but always, always, they come back together again at some point in time.
They're a family, after all. That's what family does.
"How long are you staying this time?"
Karai, now 27, looks up at Leo, recently 26. She'd come back for her brother's "mutation day", as they called it; after all, birthdays and major holidays required all family to be present.
"I dunno," she sighs, brushing a strand of hair behind her ears. She's got a few lilac streaks in her hair, a few shades lighter than the color of Donnie's mask. She'd gotten them on her most recent trip to Australia, along with stories of how insane the wildlife is there.
"Well, then how long will you be gone on your next trip?"
"Not too long," she replies, rolling her eyes. "Father's birthday is coming up, after all, as is Irma's. I can't miss those."
Leo laughs quietly, sitting down beside her. "No, you can't." They are silent for a few moments, sitting on the soft grass and staring up at the stars. They're much brighter at the farmhouse than in the city, where you could barely distinguish even the brightest of stars.
"Karai, can I ask: why do you keep leaving?" Leo's voice is small, timid, and Karai frowns, turning her gaze to the eldest brother.
"I mean," he clarifies when she doesn't reply, "we…we always miss you, and…and we worry about you."
"Then stop worrying, Leo," Karai says, a little colder than intended. She looks away, back up at the night sky. "Father and I talked about this. He knows I can handle myself. He knows I will be safe. And you all know that I will always come back."
"But…what if you don't?"
Karai sighs. "Leo. You are my family. It's taken a while, but I've accepted it. I love each and every one of you, and I am so grateful I have you in my life. But I'm still finding my own way. Traveling…it gives me distance, and excitement, and joy. I'm sorry if it causes you pain, because that's not what I want at all."
Leo blinks, and tries to voice some of the jumbled thoughts swirling in his head. "No – Karai, no, that's not what I meant by that at all – I mean, if it makes you happy, then go for it, we just…" He trails off, unsure of himself, and Karai hums softly.
"Leo, I will always come back. Nothing in the world could keep me away."
"How can you be sure?"
"I said so, and therefore it is true."
Leo chuckled a little at that. "I don't think that's how it works."
Karai smirks at him. "Well, that's too bad, because that's how I choose to see it. Those places I go to are new and exciting and fun, but if I never came home I think I'd go insane. This is the one place that I feel like it's perfectly fine to be myself, and I will never let that go."
Leo smiles now, a genuine smile, and together they stand up and make their way back to the house.
No matter what the future holds, she'll always come back home.
As you held me down you said: "I'll see you in the future when we're older and we are full of stories to be told. Cross my heart and hope to die, I'll see you with your laughter lines." Ashen faces in cold breeze…all the stories you will leave… I'll see you in the future when we're old.