A.N: Ok, finals week this week and I'm…so going to die. Well, I can just use Mikey's Pizza making song to boost my confidence. Cheezicle! I need a Cheezicle! Kitty, give me a cheezicle!
Katie Gibbs: About time, right?
Ericaphoenix16: Yay!
Guest Melissa: Coincidence, am I right? And my Interpration of Splinter's name is in this chapter as well.
Guest Alejandra: To be honest, I never watched the movies, except for the 2007 version. I should probably do though. I also should have Callaby play with the turtles if you like it. Ilike it too.
Beawolf's Pen: I bring to you…..name game!
I don't own TMNT
Name Game
Callaby and I sat down in the two foot dip in the middle of the main room. The turtles had been there the whole time, each taking turns looking at the tile that the green eyed turtle had found. I took it away from them before the sharp edge of the tile could hurt them. The green eyed turtle tried to grab it from me. Even though I was sitting down low to the ground, I still held the tile high enough for him not to reach it. His wobbly legs gave way under him and he fell to his knees. He then sat on his bottom and gave me what looked like sneer. I blinked. How can someone as young as him give me a face liked that? Callaby laughed when she saw what happened, "Aw, someone is giving you pouty face. Aren't you, little turtle?" When she said little turtle, all of them turned to look at her. She said, "Oh, no."
"What's wrong?"
"All of them are called little turtle, that's all they respond to. We got to name them."
"Name them?"
"Yeah, they deserve names of their own, don't you think?"
I looked back at the turtles and realized she was right. If I were to take care of them from now on, I must call them by something. "I agree, what should we call them?"
"I don't know." Callaby said, picking up the dark blue eyed turtle. She put him on her lab and he began to play with the collar of her shirt. "It has to be unique, something that hasn't been done before. I know my dad's side of the family is used to do doing that. That's why my name is Callaby. Because it's weird but cool sounding."
"It makes you different from everyone else."
"Yeah." She said sadly. "I guess maybe it goes with my personality. I'm weird to everyone." Before I could come up with a better explanation as to what I really meant, she said, "Hey, we can name them from their characteristics." She looked at the baby turtle in her arms and said, "Ok, how about Blue Eyes, no…. there are two of you like that. Well, we can name the other one Freckle Face. But that sounds mean."
"How about a name that means something. Like the nickname my friend- I mean….someone I knew….gave me."
"You have a nick name?"
"Yes. They called me Splinter sometimes back when I was living in Japan."
"Oh, yeah. You said that to my mom once after she messed up the order of your name. But why Splinter?"
"A splinter is like a fragment of something, in this case wood. Wood is a strong and balanced element and it withstands on its own. But splinters can easily come from it and hang lose, threatening to hurt someone."
"Wow, is there a story to that?"
"Well, besides the one time when I very young I cried when I got a splinter on my finger…." She giggled a little but I continued to smile and said, "But my friends called me that because I could always withstand on my own. On the other hand, when I'm pushed very hard, I could easily be angered and saddened, and lead myself to hurt someone."
"You hurt someone?"
My ears perked up and my eyes widened. I guess I should have known she would have figured it out by the way I said it. I sighed and came up with the best way to explain it to her, "I let someone challenge me into a fight, and what he said made me angry and I said things and it made him angry and…"
"And you feel bad?"
"Things like that can never leave you, they hang there."
"Like splinters."
I gave her a heartwarming smile and nodded, telling her she got the idea. Callaby seemed to think about this long and hard. Her mouth was in as straight line and she looked at the turtle with sincerity then kindness. The blue eyed turtle played with the fingers on her hand as she continued to think. Then she looked up and said, "The nickname now seems more amazing when it's explained."
"I….uh…..thank you."
"Maybe we shouldn't do physical characteristics. They sound more like pet names. But how about personalities, like yours?"
"That sounds wonderful."
She smiled and looked at the turtle. "You're small….how about Axel, that's Latin for tiny wave. No, but freckle face is smaller. This guy is brave…strong willed. How about Connor, it's Irish for strong willed."
Seeing her this happy naming the little turtles made me smile. I hadn't seen anyone this happy in a very long while. As she continued, I remembered the last person who I talked to about naming. I didn't want to think about it because I knew it would only bring me sadness, but the memory came anyway.
I was walking outside the porch of our small house in Japan. I saw Tang Shen just sitting in the front garden and painting something on a white canvas. Her hair was down and she wore her favorite white kimono. At that time I remembered her still pregnant with Miwa. I walked to her from behind and then put my hands on her shoulders. I looked at the cherry blossom tree she was painting with the white wall built behind it. Shen looked up at me and said, "Do you like it?"
"I love it. It's a wonderful painting."
"Almost as good as the Greats?"
"Maybe even better."
"Oh, don't lie. You know I can never be as good as Leonardo de Vinci."
"It just takes practice." He leaned down and kissed her cheek.
She just smiled and leaned her head back so that it laid against my chest. "Hmm." She mumbled. "I actually like that name….for the baby…if it were to be a boy."
I remembered we wanted to keep the gender of our child a surprise, so we hadn't named the baby yet. "Leonardo? It is a good name…"
"It is a unique name."
"Leonardo." I whispered.
"What?" came Callaby's voice into my memory. Thank goodness she brought me out of it, because when I blinked my eyes to see back into reality, I tear rolled down my face so I quickly whipped it off.
I looked at Callaby and said, "Oh, um, it's nothing….."
"No you said Leonardo." She stood up holding the dark blue eyed turtle in her hands. As he played with the strings of her hoodie, Cally said, "Like Leonardo de Vinci."
"Yes." Then I remembered what Tang Shen had told me about the name. "Leonardo comes from Leo, the lion."
"And lions are brave…..hey that's it!" She held up the turtle in her arms and she said, "How do you like that?" The baby looked up at her, not knowing what she was talking about, "Leonardo?" At first he gave her gapping mouth. Then he slowly smiled and looked at where I was sitting. Hey giggled in joy and waved his arms around.
"He likes it" Cally said with a smile. She saw my face and asked, "What's wrong."
"Oh, I'm fine, it is nothing"
"I mean, they are your kids-"
"I'm just taking care of them."
"Right, but you can name them whatever you want."
I smiled and looked at turtle in her hands. "Leonardo is a good name." Then I whispered inaudibly, "She….loved it as well."
"Well then if Leonardo here gets a Renaissance name, maybe the others should as well. Besides, I think it would be nice pattern to it."
"They are brothers, are they not?" I asked with a smile.
"True." She looked around to see which turtle would be next in naming. I knew there were over twenty famous Renaissance artists and inventors, it would be hard to choose. An idea hit me and I said to Callaby, "You wouldn't mind doing me a favor, would you Callaby?"
"Anything."
"Even if it means you leaving and going back to my apartment?"
"Sure."
"You will?"
"Yeah. What do you need me to do?"
"There is a book my wi- I mean- I have that has a blue velvet cover with the title Renaissance Art. Can you get it for me?"
"Where is it? A book shelf?"
"A shelf right in the living room, you will find it there."
"Ok," She darted out of the main room and said, "I'll be right back."
She was gone for a while but after thirty minutes, Callaby came back with the book in her hands. She had a look on her face that said she was excited yet hiding something. "Callaby, are you all right?"
"I'm good, I just need a breather. Tired but I'm good." She came over and sat with me. She opened the book and immediately gasped, "Wow, look at all the info. Gosh the images look so nice."
"I always like to keep my books in good quality."
"I bet you do better than the library near the complex. I saw someone wrote in one book with crayon. Seriously, people need to stop that." She said almost yelling. "Sorry, I just had to speak my mind."
"I agree with you, people must respect books."
Callaby began to turn the page. Every two pages were dedicated to a famous artist of the Renaissance. Tang Shen and I would always look in it for inspiration. Callaby looked up at the green eyed turtle who sat right in front of her. She said, "Ok, you next, Green eyes. You are, not to be mean, but angry a lot. Man, I wish there is an easy name for you." She began to look through the book, calling out different names. "Bernardo, Giovanni…..not many good matches." She landed on a familiar page and I noticed she was going to turn it so I said, "Wait."
I looked over her shoulder and I read out the name. "Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino."
"That's a long name."
"Most would call him-"
"Raphael." Callaby said with a smile.
"Yes."
Callaby read under the name. "Hey, there is a description. Named after the archangel whose name means 'God has Healed.' Hmmm, the name sounds fitting, but I feel the meaning is less….it just doesn't seem him."
I began to explain the name, "I know the meaning is by far the least comparative, but think about how you saved him from the river. Healed can also mean being saved. And also, he can be healed from being an angry one to a more compassionate one."
"So instead of God has healed, it could be God will heal."
"Exactly."
The green eyed turtle then noticed the tallest of the turtles drawing something with his finger with the dust on the ground. He crawled over and began to disturb whatever his brother drew on the ground. The other one retaliated by pushing the green eyed turtle. The two began to wrestle. "Ok." Callaby reached over and grabbed the green eyed turtle by the foot. "Raphael, you stop annoying your brother." She pulled him back a little and then let him lay on the ground on his stomach. The tallest turtle continued his drawing.
"I have the perfect name for him." I said. I reached over and flipped a few pages until I landed on another artist. "Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi.
"This is Donatello, right?" I nodded. She continued to read out, "Gift Given from God."
"This one, I believe, has a natural ability to copy what others do. Very observant for a boy his age."
"I get it. And he is such a cutie when he does that, too." Leonardo crawled over and sat next to Donatello. "Well, all of them are cute when they do things," Callaby added.
The last and the smallest of the four turtles came crawling up to me and he began to play with my tail. I picked up the smallest one and held him in my arms. He began to laugh and with quick reflexes reached out a hand grabbed my whiskers. He pulled them and I yelled, "OW, itte miyou!" The little turtle just laughed, let go of my whiskers, and clapped his hands. I held him in one arm as I rubbed my muzzle where it hurt. "Quite talented, aren't you? I did not even see he was going to do that."
As the little one continued to laugh, Callaby looked at him. "So what's the next one? I think I remember some names in my history class I learned this past year. I think one them was Michelangelo."
"There is more to that name, actually. Turn to page four." She did and landed on the titled page Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. "See the description."
"Who is like an Angel. Oh yes, that totally fits! He is such a sweet little angel."
The small turtle continued to try and grab my whiskers. I tried to pull my head back and say, "Angel when he wants to me."
"Then it's settled. Michelangelo." She then began to point at the different turtles, calling them by name. "Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. The baby mutant turtle brothers. I like that, it's got a good ring to it." She continued to look through the book. "I still can't get over how good the print is." Donatello saw this and he crawled on over and began to look at the cover of the book. "You like the book?" She asked him.
"Since he's never seen a book," I began, "It's probably the most interesting thing in the world to him. It would be nice to bring all my belongings down here."
"You might have too."
I looked at her concerned, "Why is that?"
"When I went to get the book, the investigators were there looking through your apartment. Their planning on taking your stuff when it's reached a hundred days of your absence. Hamato, their going to take away everything."
A.N: And now things are getting worse. But hey, at least the naming was fun right? I googled the meaning of the names, so I thought I could use that to my advantage here. It fits them so well now. Also, I just realized why the original creators of TMNT made them like Pizza, because their names are Italian! I FLIPPEN DID NOT MAKE THE CONNECTION UNTIL NOW! I'm KikaKatTIOI, peace out!
