Thank you all so much for the amazing feedback on the last chapter! It really made my day Friday when I saw all of your amazing comments. Well, without further or do… Enjoy!
(Mona's POV)
I slipped out of Raph and I's old room as I made my way out to walk around.
It was difficult to sleep.
Though I did get a sense of deja vu when I woke up in my old room down here, well Raph's room too later down the line.
When I got pregnant with Molly, we realized how stupid it was that we slept in two separate rooms. It was literally idiotic and made absolutely no sense, so then Raph just kind of moved in my room with me.
Not that his room wasn't an option, but his room was too cramped for two people and there would have been no way both Raph, being built like a tank, and me, being pregnant, could have shared his twin bed comfortably. Sure my room had my double bed from my old room at my family's apartment, but even it was still kind of… cozy for us.
But having Raph and I sharing a bed wasn't a completely foreign situation for me in the beginning. Usually when he came to my room and we had sex, he would almost always stay in my bed with me until morning.
But it wasn't until we started sharing a bed every night that I started to feel a little… well, look I'm just going to say it. I never considered myself a prissy butt girly girl by any stretch of the imagination, but I'll admit that the only really girly aspect about me is that I like pink.
When my bed and a lot of my stuff was moved down here to lair from my old apartment, I just made everything look exactly like my old room, just to make it more homey for myself. I painted 2 of my four walls pink with a diagonal black stripe going through each of them, it turned out looking pretty awesome in my opinion.
Anyway, I just made everything like my old room, including my bed set up.
I had my pink comforter and pink sheets on my bed, and even though Raph always said he didn't care about having pink everywhere when he was with me in my room, I knew that it deep down probably was kind of mentally eating at his masculinity to have pink everywhere. Also, the thought of Raph sleeping in what was now our bed full time with hot pink sheets on it to me seemed pretty cruel.
So that was when I opted for more neutral colored stuff in my room, although the paint job on my walls still remains to this day.
Everything worked out well with the plan though. Especially since we were even able to give Raph's old room to Molly once she was born.
That thought crossed my mind as I glanced into Raph's old room with the door cracked open. I glanced in and saw Molly lying on her side in the bed. I couldn't tell if she was asleep or awake or not. But I know she had a pretty… traumatic night for her.
Molly's a tough girl, but she only recently turned 14 and just witnessed a series of really intense stuff.
But I'd easily admit that I'd definitely rank tonight in my top 5 most traumatic situations of my life. Wow, that's really frightening that I have a record like that, but ever since the night I met Raph and his brothers I've seen and experienced some really messed up and insane stuff.
Well, at least I can always go through life saying that mine in particular was interesting to say the least.
Tonight I was fighting foot soldiers for the first time in 16 years, the Shredder was electrocuted to the point of pretty much death by conduction, then to top it off I thought I was going to witness the mutation of my daughter. Until Kaito got her out of the way in time…
Kaito…
I froze at that thought when I saw someone sitting on a bench with their back to me in the main room. Even with darkness, I could tell who it was that sent a flair of mixed emotion in me, Karai.
I had no idea what to do exactly as I quietly approached her.
As I got closer, I noticed something in her hand. My scientific side, as well as my instinct of being a person that needs to know everything like a snoop, took over me as I got a closer to get a better look at what she was holding.
It looked like a 5''X3'' picture. It was a smaller photo, but it contained the image of one distinct figure. It was Kaito.
It was taken from about the chest up and he had a slight smile on his face that my mind almost synapse with a memory of my past with Leo.
When everyone said that Kaito heavily favored Leo… they weren't even joking. I thought Jimmy and Raph looked like near carbon copies of each other, but I think Kaito and Leo might have beaten them out in that category by a little bit.
There was so much about Kaito, maybe also because he is a teenager, that I could just see so much of Leo in. Everything about the way he looked and his mannerisms was Leo… except for the eyes.
I could tell Karai must have been completely absorbed into the picture if she did not seem to be paying any attention to me standing right behind her.
I just felt conflicted. After I heard Karai's declaration earlier to the Shredder, her father, I felt a spark of curiosity in me.
When we got back to the lair and Karai walked off to be on her own after all that happened, I made Leo fill me in on the detail with what was said earlier, and swore me to secrecy before finally telling me.
I'll admit it, I was shocked… and I also felt… sorry for her. I smirked to myself for a split second. If my 16 year old self found out about that thought I just had, I'm pretty sure she'd probably whack me and say I lost my mind.
I finally decided to approach this gently as I inquired, "Couldn't sleep either?"
(Karai's POV)
I shot my head up as I saw Mona sit down near me. I was shocked at her making conversation with me.
"No." I say and glance at the picture of Kaito in my hand again. It was a recent one from about last September. "Did you want something?" I ask her, slightly irritated. I wanted to be alone.
"No." She said. It was silent between us, but I just kept on looking at the picture in my hand.
"Look Karai, I'm sorry, really. I'm sorry for everything that happened to you." She said and I whipped my head around to look at her in shock. I was about to say something when she said, "Leo told me."
I looked back down in front of me as I let out a deep and slow breathe.
Well, so much for it being a secret.
I let an indignant scoof. "What?" She responds, sounding confused by my response. "Look, why are you all of a sudden being sympathetic toward me? I thought you always thought of me as the type of being that anything bad that happened to me wasn't bad enough… but, whatever, you might as well know my shame too." I respond indignantly.
There was a long pause. The silence of the room practically swallowing us until she finally spoke out.
"Look Karai, I'm not going to beat around the bush when I say that I never really liked you, at all. But I am sorry and I don't understand what you mean by your shame? What happened between your parents or your father and Splinter… you had nothing to do with any of it." She admits confused.
"I know that, but that's not what I'm ashamed of. I'm ashamed of what my past did to me, what my… father did to me. I was lied to my whole life and took a dishonorable path of trying to hunt down a man that had nothing to do with the ruin of my family, when in reality… my family caused the ruin of Splinter's. It's because of that reason that I'm ashamed." I say and hang my head as I brought my knees to my chest.
It was silent and then I had a really confused look on my face when I saw a corner of her mouth curled up as she glanced to the floor.
"What?" I question. "Nothing." She says, still smiling slightly.
I just looked at her oddly when I looked at at Kaito's picture again.
"Karai, I know we've never gotten along. But I just want to tell you something in absolute honesty. I am and will always be grateful for what Kaito did tonight. What he did tonight was a very brave and selfless act. He acted to save my daughter and that is something I will never forget. Mothers never forget things like that, and I think that is something both of us can agree on." She says, sounding sincere.
I was finally able to glance at her before nodding my head and replying, "Thank you, I mean it."
It was silent again between us. "I know what it's like to feel helpless too, you know. The pain of appearing helpless to others." She said and I gave her a confused look when I saw her reach behind her neck and take off this necklace of some kind. Then she started telling me this story of how her parents were taken away from her and tortured and killed by the Kraang when they were still here, how she was mutated, and how she had to pretty much salvage a new life for herself. She even showed me her necklace that was actually a locket and she showed me the picture of her parents on the inside.
"Look, like I said, I know you and I have never seen eye to eye on anything. But, I promise that none of us will give up. We will find Kaito and Donnie will find a way to change him back." She says and I was at a loss for words and then I was further floored when I heard her say, "Also, I just want you to know that tonight, I see what Leo meant about you that I refused to believe before. I'll admit that I used to think you were heartless shrew that was eventually going to destroy my best friend, but I was wrong. When I saw your reaction to what happened to Kaito, I saw a person, a mother who loved her son very much. Something I can relate to with both my children. So if anything I was the shrew for passing judgement on you." She says with a laugh and a slight smirk.
I managed to smirk back as I clicked my tongue on the roof of my mouth and responded, "Trust me, you don't need to go that far. I was the one who started it by accusing you of hitting on Leo when we were 16. I think we can both agree that I used to be kind of a piece of work when I was younger." I say and we both let out a short laugh.
As hard as it is to admit it, I think the main reason Mona and I hated each other was probably because we are very similar in many weird ways.
I think the main reason we both clashed is because we both have really strong characters that aren't used to having a challenge.
I realized it the moment I started that first confrontation with Mona and how determined she looked after I confronted her to want to kick my ass and how unafraid and unintimidated she looked.
Her reactions to things were so similar to things I would have done if I was in her place and it was because of that reason that we were always at odds.
Yet, I still stand by what I admitted years ago. No matter how much I didn't like her, I always had to admit that I did respect her as an equal. Mona left and I was on my own again and I glanced at Kaito's picture again.
I just want my son back, that's all I want.
The next morning
(Molly's POV)
We just came back from the warehouse to look at the aftermath and to possibly find clues on where Kaito could be.
The only consolation was that on my way in I immediately found a charred and horrifying mass covered in armor of what used to be the Shredder. I tried to walk away from it and keep my mind on something else. All I was actually able to find, which I was glad to find, were Kaito's yumi and yebira, still stocked with arrows.
It probably got separated from him when he got hit by the mutagen.
I'll admit when I say that I have never felt more ashamed of myself than I do right now. I wasn't even able to sleep last night because of the intense guilt over what happened to Kaito.
What happened to Kaito was, in all reality, my fault.
I was the coward that froze up out of fear, forcing Kaito to push me and my sorry butt out of the way. If I would have only freaking moved, Kaito would not have ended up turning into something out of a werewolf monster movie and none of this would be going on.
Everyone keeps saying it wasn't my fault, but I know it was deep down. That's why I want to do everything I possibly can to find him and change him back… but how?
Then all of a sudden Uncle Don rushed into the main room as he looked at Uncle Leo and said, "Leo, I found it." I saw his expression lift as he stood up.
"Where?" He asks, eager to know about something.
"I found it stored away from years ago in my chemical storage freezer in the lab. I just applied heat to the mixture again and it's still active. Point is we have retromutagen." Uncle Don says smiling a little. That was when I finally connected the dots.
Retromutagen… we can finally do it, we can help Kaito.
All we need to do now is find him.
One more chapter left for this story everyone. I hope you liked the interaction between Mona and Karai, showing how they can put their differences aside and actually get along if they really tried. I wanted a filler chapter just so the next chapter wouldn't be way too long. Well, the search for Kaito begins. Thank you for reading and please review if you can.