Chapter 28: Two Halves of a Whole

I woke up on Christmas mornin' surprisingly in Raph's bed. I must've konked out as we walked back to tha lair last night. I could hear everyone downstairs talkin' and exchangin' gifts. I smiled at tha sound of their laughter. It was nice ta hear that everyone is happy even with all tha shit that has been goin' on lately. I turned ova on my side ta see that Raph wasn't there. He must be downstairs already. I got up from bed and walked outta tha room.

I walked downstairs ta see everyone sittin' around tha Christmas tree...well, almost everyone. I didn't see Raph anywhere. Oh well, he must be in tha bathroom or somethin'.

"How you feelin'," asked Leo as I walked towards them.

"Actually, I feel great," I said. "Better than eva." He flashed a sweet smile at me.

"It's Christmas, sis," said Mikey as he ran up ta me and picked me up. "What'cha get me? What'cha get me?"

"If ya don't stop spinnin' me around, I'll be too sick ta tell ya," I said holdin' onto him for dear life. Mikey put me down and I went ta get everyone's presents from under tha tree. I handed them their presents and sat on tha couch as I watched em' open their gifts.

"I love ya, I love ya, I love ya, dudette," said Mikey as he ran towards me and embraced me in a heartfelt hug. "How did you know that I wanted this game?"

"Oh, I don't know...cause you've been buggin' me for it for about three weeks now," I said sarcastically. Mikey smiled and once again gave me a hug.

"Thanks, sis," he said.

"Wow," said Leo with excitement in his voice. I turned ta him and saw tha big ass martial arts book in his hands. "Thanks, Renee," he said as he walked ova ta give me a hug.

"Thought you'd like it," I said as I hugged him back.

"Hey, Renee, how did you know that I needed some extra test tubes and beakers," asked Donny from tha other side of tha room.

"Let's just say a lil' birdie told me," I said.

"Thanks, Renee," he said with a smile on his face as he too hugged me.

As tha girls opened their presents, I once again glanced around tha lair in search for Raph. "Has anyone seen Raphael by any chance," I asked.

"I think he's still on tha roof," said Mikey as he popped his new game into his Xbox 360.

"Really," I said in a suspicious tone. "How long has he been up there?"

"Since early this morning," replied Leo. I got up from my seat and went outta tha lair ta look for him.

When I made it to tha rooftops, I found Raph sittin' on the edge of tha buildin'. "Ya know tha party's downstairs, right," I asked as I leaned against a chimney. Raph turned around ta face me.

"Yeah, I know," he said as he turned ta looked back ova tha city.

I walked towards him and sat down next ta him. "I know what ya thinkin' about," I said. "And it's okay, I'll be fine."

"You don't know that," he said tensely. "Tha life we lead is full of stress and anger...and it's my fault that I brought ya into it."

"Don't say that," I said in a tense tone as well. "If I didn't want this life, I could've left months ago, but I didn't because I found somethin' here with you and tha otha turtles that I wouldn't be able ta find out there. You guys showed me that it is okay ta be myself no matter how weird I may seem and I wouldn't trade that for anything. I rather die than ta go back ta how things use ta be."

"That may come sooner than ya think," said Raph under his breath.

"Well, ya know what, I'm still here and we might as well make tha best of a bad sitch while we're at it," I said as I grabbed Raph's hand and led him somewhere.

"Where are we goin'," he asked as he ran behind me.

"To tha docks, that's where your Christmas present is," I said.

Once we got there, me and Raph walked onto tha sandy shore. "Okay, so what now," he asked me.

"Stand back and be patient," I said. I kneeled down and touched tha sand with my hands. I closed my eyes and soon my hands began ta spark with lightning.

"Renee, what tha..." started Raph.

"Hold up, I'm almost done," I said. I picked up tha piece of glass that I created and walked ova towards him. I handed Raph tha piece. It was shaped like a heart. "This is so that no matter what happens, I'll always be here with you," I said in a serious tone.

He looked at me and smiled as he broke tha heart in half. He gave me one of tha halves. "And this is so that I'll always be with you," he said. I smiled at him and we embraced each other in a hug. Then somethin' came out of me that I was scared ta bring out.

"I'm scared of who I might leave behind," I said as tears streamed down my face.

"I'm not gonna let that happen...not again," Raph said in my ear as he kissed my cheek. "I have somethin' for you."

We broke away from our hug as Raph pulled out two daggers from his belt. "Ya can't be a teenage mutant ninja turtle without your weapons," he said.

"They're beautiful," I said as I studied tha blades. I swung em' around in my hands and did a pose. "How do I look," I asked. Next thing I knew, Raph tackled me to tha ground and we began makin' out on tha sandy shore. "Hmm...I'm likin' this answer," I said between breaths as we kissed.