Donnie: Happy Pi Day everyone!
Mikey: Wait.. pie?
Me: Here we go again.. It's the same conversation every year.
Donnie: Not like you know pi either CtW.
Me: *beams* 3.14159265... *thinks* 353 bla, bla, bla..
Donnie: Close enough.
Raph: Hey shellheads, where's the pie? Mikey said there'd be some.
Donnie/Me: *groan*
In other news..
"Today's the day!" - Kid Flash/Robin/Speedy/Aqualad, Young Justice
[Katsumi's POV]
My first night at the palace was restless. I would have relished it more, but it was also my first night in about a month that Raph was not near me. He's in his room, and I in mine. I had a nightmare again. I may have chosen to leave my past behind, but my unconscious has not once I fall asleep.
I woke up to someone holding my from behind. I was tense at first, but his gentle hand in my hair was soothing. He stayed until I fell back asleep.
'Three nights of this,' I think now, sitting up, 'And now this is it.' The servants worked all day and even sometimes all night to get ready. I watched flowers appear seemingly out of nowhere and dust swept where I thought none had been when I arrived.
I slip out of the covers and plod across my room. Hanging in the wardrobe room are the pieces of my dress. I reach out and touch the silky texture of the kakeshita. The color is bright white, like fresh snow.
I hear my door open. I freeze in my tracks and start over to the edge of the open room. I'm reach the corner and someone ambushes me. "Good morning Kat!" Surizu states, enveloping me in a hug. I see Akage behind her and lets go of the worry. I hug Surizu back, then we separate.
"What's with the surprize?" I ask.
Akage looks at me, "Seriously? You don't know?" I shake my head. "We're here to help you get ready!" I look at the two princesses, then at a few servants that had come in behind them.
I squeal a tiny bit, "Let's get started." The others join in. The bath is filled with warm water. One servant has scented oils and the other adds rose petals. I am helped out of my sleep kimono and into the bath. Surizu shoos various servants out to get one thing or another. Surizu sits behind my head, so I can't see her.
But I know she's there by the sure hands massaging my scalp. I am allowed to eat my breakfast while I have my bath. "Akage could barely eat on her big day," Surizu states. Akage blushes as she helps with my under kimono when I am clean and enveloped in an atmosphere the oils produced. The kimono is a deep red, the hem and collar are edged with gold.
"I probably should have fainted. I'm glad I didn't," she admits. Then I'm sat down and my hair is combed. The other servants come in, a total of four. Some hold pallets covered in velvet, others have small flower bouquets. The velvet pallets are set next to me. They hold pins and combs for my hair.
"All for me?" I ask, looking at Surizu. She nods.
"Choose what you like," she states. I look back. I choose a few, not wanting to be too weighed down. Akage is the one that stands behind me. She twists my hair and I feel a knot at the back of my head. Then she holds out a mirror when it's done.
My silky black hair is not in the traditional top knot. The knot is farther down and the ends are tucked into the middle. I smile, finding it perfect. But I still have to ask. "Why did you choose this?"
"..Your hair isn't long enough for the traditional style," she admits, "Do you like it?"
I nod, "I love it." The jewels of the pins poke out of my hair, like they had grown with it. The next group of servants step forward. They show me the bouquets of flowers. The ones I choose are also placed in my hair. They giggle, talking about the wedding to come.
Surizu sits across from me and does my make up. Then I am stood up. The pieces of my dress are now laid gently over the couches. I brush my hand over the kakeshita again. Akage turns to the servants. "That is all, arigato." They all curtsy and leave.
"He really loves me.. doesn't he?" I ask. Surizu places her hand over mine. I look up at her.
"He does. I can tell you have brought out a better person in him. He's gentler, he thinks more."
"Is that how it was with you and Leonardo?" I ask. She nods.
"We needed each other." I look at Akage, and she confirms Surizu's statement for herself and Donatello. "Let's get you dressed, hai?"
She picks up the bright white kimono and I turn around. It's wrapped in the front, but there are no strings to keep it there like the other. Akage picks up the obi, which wraps around my waist. It has pink strings, the main color is a vibrant red, and there are white and gold leaf patterns covering it.
I look in the mirror, seeing the collar of the under kimono poking out the top. "How did you have the dress ready in such a short time?" I ask, the thought nagging at my brain for long enough.
"The Great Lady Shen designed all four dresses for her future daughters," Surizu states, "it only needed your measurements, which we gathered after you arrived." I nod, remembering my fitting.
"She must have worked hard on them.." I state softly, running my hand along the fabric.
"Yes.. it is unfortunate that she cannot be here to see them in use," Surizu notes. We all stop what we are doing a moment, thinking of the mother-in-law we'll never meet.
"How are you, Katsumi?" Akage asks, finishing the ribbon in the back of the obi.
"..I feel ready," I say, "And also nervous."
"It's natural to feel nervous," Surizu states, "And also eager." I nod. I definitely feel eager. I'm excited for the whole day, and also tonight.
Surizu picks up the uchikake from the couch and I admire it once again. The bottom is deep red and oranges, making a swirling fire pattern. Gold threads highlight edges in random intervals. The fire fades into a lighter color at the waist. It becomes a multitude of flowers, all different shades of the rainbow. The leaves beneath are green and red.
Surizu helps one of the long sleeves onto my arm, and then the other. It sets on my shoulders hanging loosely to show the kimonos beneath. A final velvet pallet is brought over.
A beaded anklet is fastened around my ankle. I had to take off Raph's necklace to me for my bath, so it is put around my neck again. My ears have simple jewels hanging from them. My wrists have beads and jewels around them. Surizu touches up on my makeup, then steps back.
I look in the mirror, 'You are not a Foot elite,' I tell myself, 'you are a princess to a Hamato Kame Prince. You are beautiful.' I smile at how much we really need each other, 'Raphael loves you.'
[Raphael's POV]
I didn't change out of my sleep wear when I woke up in the morning. I just walk straight out of my room and down the hall. I see Surizu and Akage walk passed me. I nod to them. They are going to get Katsumi ready. I can't wait until I can see her. But instead I walk to my father's house, where my brothers are waiting.
I pause at the gate. It's too quiet. I tread carefully. I walk up the stairs and take one step into the doorway. "Bro!" I'm tackled by a green form and end up on my shell.
"Get offa me!" I bellow, still a quarter asleep. Mikey gets off and Donnie offers a hand to me. I take it and he hauls me off the grass in front of the house. "Glad I gotta shell," I state.
We walk inside and Leo is waiting. "It's you day Raph," he states. We exchange forearms.
"'Bout time you started using our nicknames on a daily basis Fearless," I tease.
"Let's just get you ready." I go to the room passed my father's room. The shower is warm and the soap puts a soothing scent in the whole room. I step out and put on the dark red hakama left over a chair.
I walk out of the room and Donnie is holding the kimono shirt. It is white with black and red embroidery along the crossed edges. I put it on and secure it in place the sleeves don't even touch my elbows.
Then I get the haori handed to me from Mikey. It goes around my shell. The difference between this one and others is it doesn't have any sleeves, so I tie my armband around the lower portion of my bicep.
I put on my sandals and look at my brothers. Donnie and Leo both have necklaces with a ring on the end. Mikey's neck is empty. He is excited. I take a step over to him and set a hand on his shoulder.
"You're day will come," I tell him. He smiles wider than I thought possible. I swat his head good-naturally. He protests a little, which causes the rest of us to chuckle. "Ever the baby bro," I state.
"I'm not a baby anymore Raphael," Mikey states, "It's not too long until I have my eligibility day." Raph chuckles.
"That you are." He walks out of the house, Donnie following him to find a seat. I turn to Leo. He looks at me for a little, wearing something a little more formal than his armor. "What?" I ask.
"The last I saw you, you could barely hold yourself together," he says, "During the celebration, I went up to your room to see if you were going to join us. I wanted to go after you."
"Why didn't you?" I ask.
"Because Father said that everyone has their own path to take, even if it seems like it will not end well," Leo states, "I didn't- couldn't understand what he meant. I kept trying to find you. Sometimes it seems like I did."
"But I wrote them off as nightmares, plagues," I admit, "I heard you, but it tormented me then."
"And then.." Leo smiles broadly and looks back from his inspection of the ceiling, "you come home with a tsuma on your arms."
"Trust me, the story is a lot more complicated than that," I say, motioning with my arm.
"..Did you ever.." Leo pauses, unsure if he should ask.
"What?" I coax. He cringes, knowing the subject is sensitive. But I sigh, understanding, "No, brother. I wished to wait."
"I'm glad," Leo walks over and hugs me again. "Now don't leave again," he teases. I swat him on the head too, or try. He catches my hand and holds it there, smirking.
"How wrong could I have been about Surizu?" I ask. He lets go. "What's it like, being a father?"
"Tiring. But worth it," Leo states. He walks out the door to join our brothers and I take a deep breath.
'Maybe we'll have one Kat,' I think to myself, 'I hope so.' I walk out the door and around the house to the garden. It's decked out with mostly reds.
I walk down the aisle, people already taking their seats. I am stopped a few times to shake someone's hand, but I make it to the front. I stand by my father. Leo, Donnie, and Mikey are sitting on my side of the aisle. Then all I can do is shift on my feet and wait.
'C'mon, where is she?' I wonder. I see a red maid come around the house, a basket of petals with her. The music starts up. She slowly walks down the aisle, brushing petals to the ground as she goes. She gets halfway and then the second girl walks out. I watch as the procession goes one, eyes trained on the entrance to the garden. Then there is a skirt that is different from those before it.
Katsumi steps onto the first stone, and I can't breathe. Her dress is flawless.. Beautiful. I remember when Mother had designed them.
I run over to Mother at the hedges. I climb up onto the bench she was sitting on. "Momma? What are you doing?" I ask.
She looks at me. "I am drawing a dress."
"Don't the servants do that?" I ask.
"No, Amai musuko (sweet son), this one is special."
"When will you wear it?" He asks.
"It isn't for me.." She says softly, drawing along the skirt, "It will be for your brother's wife, his tsuma, someday."
I was confused which he meant, but then I see the blue pencils, "Will Leo get married soon?"
She chuckles a moment, and I smile. I love making mamma smile. "Not for a long time, no. But someday.."
"Will I?"
"I hope so. And she will have a dress too. I'll do hers next." I sit back.
"I hope she's just like you.." I say.
I watch Katsumi float over the petals and grass. 'She is Mother,' I say, 'She's just like you. She's gentle, she's strong, she's beautiful.' She arrives next to me and we take hands. She smiles at me and I at her.
"Amazing things can come from desperate and sad times.." Father starts talking. But I don't listen the entire time. I'm too focused on the bride before me, the woman I love wearing a dress my mother designed.
[3rd POV?]
The moment after they kissed, Raphael took Katsumi's hand and they were the first to leave the garden. He brought her into the hedges, where the centers were taller than outside. He scoops her into his arms and kisses her again.
She kisses him back. The she pulls back and shows him the ring on her finger. It's golden with rubies set into the metal. She hooks the chain around his neck with her hand and slides her ring finger through his marble ring, where her ring fits through. His has three drops of gold inlaid in the red stone.
"I'm never losing you again," he states, nuzzling between her shoulder and neck.
"RAPH! KAT! ARE YOU COMING!?" Michelangelo yells from somewhere in the hedge. The pair chuckle and Raphael sets her down. They walk arm and arm to the main courtyard, where the party is set up.
Guests from the villages have started arriving, filling the space. Food is arranged in elaborate designs, scattered throughout the room. Raphael takes Katsumi straight to the center of the dance floor and the musicians start to play.
Raph looks straight into her green eyes and find them all the more beautiful. Not because of the makeup or the dress. But because every time he looks at her, he falls for her all the farther. Then it's the father-daughter dance and Great Master Hahen takes Raphael's place.
The mother-son dance happens at the same time, but Raphael has no one to dance with. So he watches his father and his wife. After the song is done, Raphael starts to Katsumi again, but he is stopped by Surizu. Katsumi sees them.
"May I?" Surizu asks. Katsumi nods. She is handed the little Heiwa and Raphael leads the mother to the dance floor. "I'm glad you have found peace, brother."
"Was your wedding this grand?" He asks.
"Yes, it was perfect."
"Leonardo usually is."
"It would have been more so if you were there, brother," she notes, "a wedding is not complete without the whole family."
"Yes.. well.. We can't change the past," Raphael comments. Suruzi notes the sadness in his eyes. She puts a hand to his cheek. "I wish my mother could be here," he admits.
"You were close to her, weren't you?" She asks. Raphael nods.
"Very." Surizu smiles and Raphael is thankful once again that she is his sister-in-law.
A little cry comes from the crowd and Surizu looks away. They walk over to Katsumi, who is trying to shush the little baby. "She started crying.. I don't-" Katsumi tries.
"It is alright, shisutā (sister), she is only hungry," Surizu assures. She is handed the baby and she goes off to find a quiet place to feed Heiwa. Katsumi still looks a little distressed.
"It wasn't you," Raphael assures. She nods, but she doesn't seem to believe him. Raphael offers his arm as to dance with her again, but Michelangelo sweeps her off her feet.
"Don't worry bro!" The orange clad turtle states, "I'll give her back." Katsumi instantly giggles as Michelangelo whisks her away on the dance floor. Raphael shakes his head, chuckling.
'When Mikey gets married.. I don't know what we'll do.' Raphael takes a moment to imagine little Mikey's running around, then changes his thoughts where instead of children wearing orange, they are wearing red.
There ya go, they tied the knot.
One last chapter.