Chapter 7

Raphael stood in the middle of his family's living room looking at a letter that read;

Guy's,

Follow the white rabbit!

-Leo

"Is he serious?" Raph frowned at Usagi. "He goes on a pilgrimage, or whatever, without us, and wants us to just follow you to where ever he is?"

"Yes." Usagi answered.

"No questions asked?"

Usage shook his head, "He didn't say you couldn't ask questions."

"Oh good!" Michelangelo interjected, "Because we totally have questions. Right, Don?"

Donatello looked up from his laptop. "No not really."

"Really, Don? No questions?" Raphael narrowed his eyes at his brother. "You're totally good with 'follow the white rabbit'"

Donatello sighed, "It is a reference to the book Alice in…"

"I know what it's a reference to!" Raph snapped and crumpled the letter in his hand then pointed a thick, green finger in Usagi's face. "You can tell Leo I ain't going. He can clean up whatever mess he got himself into without us. Maybe next time he won't ditch us."

"Do you think it was Alice in wonderland? I think it was The Matrix. He is kinda into the Neo being close to Leo thing." Michelangelo stated thoughtfully.

Don considered that for a moment and shrugged. "Could be. Especially considering we are jumping through worm holes and what not… which really doesn't fit with the matrix unless you consider their plugging in to be like jumping through a worm hole."

Michelangelo placed his finger on his chin as if thinking deeply about this possibility. "Interesting perspective."

"You don't even know what he is talking about, Mike." Raph growled.

"True…" Mikey admitted, "I mean I was good till he compared wormholes to plugging in."

Raph narrowed his eyes at his brother, Unable to decide I his brother was feigning ignorance and mocking him or if he really wasn't following Don. Deciding he didn't care he started to storm off, "Whatever! I ain't going."

"Your brother was invited to get married" Splinter's information stopped Raphael mid storm

He blinked at his father. "….what?"

Splinter walked the rest of the way into the living room. "Leonardo was invited by a, Lord Maru, to meet and marry one of his daughters. Leonardo accepted the invitation to meet the Lord's daughters with the intention of seeing if the Lord would extend the invitation to the three of you as well. He must have been success full in this endeavor."

Three of his sons stared at him in shock.

"That's where Leo has been?" Raph asked, "Arranging….marriages?"

"To girls?" Mikey whispered as if saying the question to loudly would somehow make it all untrue.

"Yes." Splinter answered simply. "If they were willing."

An excited smile spread across Mikey's face so wide it practically split his face in two, but before the wave of excited questions could flood forth, Raphael practically shouted, "I ain't getting' married to no rabbit!" Raph spared Usagi a glance. "No offence."

"It's not like Mona was a turtle." Donatello pointed out.

"Hey, at least she was a reptile." Raph crossed his arms daring Donnie to argue with him. Which Donatello had no intention of doing.

"They are Terapinians." Usagi explained. "A turtle like species that lives on an island south of my country."

"And you are just mentioning this now!" Raph threw his hands out in a 'What the hell?' stance.

Usagi shrugged. "None of you asked."

Raph rolled his eyes.

"Cool. I'm gunna pack my carry on." Mikey Jumped up and half ran half skipped to his room.

"How many daughters does this Lord Maru have?" Donnie inquired.

Usagi thought about that for a moment. "Ten. If I remember correctly."

Donnie's eyes widened. "Ten?"

"Damn." Raph voiced his surprise.

"Leo has arranged for you all to meet the eldest four. As the others are all younger than eighteen."

"Oh." Don considered this for a moment, then deciding the odds were in favor of getting along with at least one of them. He closed his laptop. "I will pack my bag."

Raph stood there stubbornly with his arms crossed as his brother left the room, Usagi and Splinter looking at him expectantly. He cracked. "Fine. I'll go. But I ain't getting married. The last thing I need to deal with is some…some princess."

"The daughter of a lord is a Lady, I believe." Usagi informed.

"Whatever." Raph waived Usagi off as he headed for his room to pack his bag.

After unloading a good portion of the produce and carrying it into the orphanage, Emry was still in no hurry to leave. She sat on the front steps strumming her guitar and singing to the children as a steady stream of people came to the cart seeking the food within.

Honestly, Leo didn't mind. He was kind of enjoying handing out food, and listening to the music, while children ran around wildly. It was kind of like what he imagined a fair to be like, only less rickety rides.

He smiled as he watched three kids chasing each other, playing with sticks as if they were swords. It appeared that it was one girl, a turtle, against two boys, a turtle and an iguana.

The two were being much more aggressive than the one. She seemed to be having trouble blocking attacks from the two boys, and she kept getting her fingers smacked. Getting frustrated she threw her stick at the boys.

"Don't throw it at them." Leonardo called out to the child as he walked away from the cart.

This had gotten Emry's attention and though she didn't stop playing her guitar she did stop singing and watched what the clan leader was going to do.

"Girls aren't good at fighting anyway." One of the boys stated.

The little girl stuck out her tongue at him.

Leonardo picked up the stick and handed it to her. "Here."

She looked at him, uncertain for a moment, then reached out and took the stick.

"Now, hold it here." Leo repositioned her hands lower down on the stick. "And fix your stance so you don't fall over or trip over yourself. Like this..."

He picked up a different stick and took a waki tori no kamae stance. He really shouldn't have been giving her any pointers as he knew he would not be in the city long enough to actually train the girl. But it was painful to see her keep getting her fingers smacked like that.

The little girl mimicked his stance as best she could.

Leo reached out and adjusted her arms a little then retook his stance. "We are going to keep this very basic. Ok?"

She nodded.

"Ok." He said as he mentally reminded himself that he was not taking on a student. "So first you have to learn to parry or block." He shifted his stance bringing his sword up to the right. The blade perpendicular to his body in a ko gasumi position.

The little girl mimicked him.

He reached out to adjust her elbow, as he mentally kicked himself. She really should have a sensei. Resuming ko gasumi he then demonstrated moving back to the start position of waki tori no kamae.

She followed.

"Then you just do it the same way only the other side. Pay attention to where they are attacking from and adjust accordingly." It was a cop out and he knew it. But he really didn't have the time to train her properly. 'Blocking is good for her to know.' He told himself, 'and it will save her poor fingers.'

"I'm sorry, that is all I can really teach you for now."

"How do I hit 'em back?" She asked.

Leo couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips. "I can't teach you that…"

"Cause you don't know how?" She asked as she tilted her head a little.

"What? No, I know how." He flustered. "I am just not in a position to take on a student. Look, just aim for the body not the sword when you attack. But always protect yourself by blocking."

The little girl blinked at him. He was botching this.

"Perhaps a demonstration."

Leonardo looked up to see who was talking to him.

Layra smiled back at him. "Unless it would somehow shame you to be beaten by a woman."

Was she trying to bait him? He really did smile now. "I wouldn't say that is the problem." He held up the little stick he was using for his impromptu lesson. "It's just that I only have one little stick. You would be at a disadvantage."

Lyra looked back at her Rayen and Emry, who were now both leaning on the cart, and winked.

"We are never getting married are we?" Emery whispered to her twin.

"Not likely, no." Rayen replied with a chuckle.

"Oh I wouldn't say I am at a disadvantage." Lyra said, to Leonardo, as she drew her sword. "My Dao* against your stick."

That was an absurd challenge. So being the man, wanting to impress a woman, that he was, he naturally accepted. "Alright. My stick against your sword."

Lyra laughed. "I guess we will see if you are the warrior the stories say."

"Hmm, I guess we will." Leo grinned slyly as the crowd spread out to give the two room.

Without any further warning Lyra attacked strait on. The smile quickly disappearing from Leo's face as he dodged the attack, ducking into a backwards role, just finding his feet before having to side step as she brought her sword up. Using his stick to redirect her sword to the side, he slipped under avoiding its sharp edge then landing a swift short kick to her side sending her a few steps back.

Lyra looked at him with a shocked expression. "You would kick a woman?"

It was Leo's turn to look shocked. "When she comes at me with a sword, yes."

Lyra smiled at the fact that he was facing her as an equal. "Good."

Her next attack was quick and came at Leo from his left. He used his stick to deflect again. Only this time she angled her sword so that she sheared the stick into a long point.

Well aware that his stick had been shortened, whether by expert skill or dumb luck, he knew it was time to end the fight. Her blade was sharp and he wanted to keep all his parts.

He didn't wait for her attack this time. Even as her blade released his stick from the pull of its downward slice, he stepped behind her turning on his toes and bringing the, now sharpened, point of his stick to rest against the skin where her neck met her shoulders.

She froze then slowly turned her face to look him the eyes. He had not just won. With that stick he could have done more than kill her. He could have paralyzed her. That move would have taken away every skill, every freedom she had ever fought for and gained. That simple move could have taken everything, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Leonardo found himself held there by her sharp golden gaze. He couldn't even draw a breath as he watched the confusion of emotions pooling there. Heat filling him as a sudden urge to cup her face in his hands and pull her to him caught him off guard. He decided then that this woman was some sort of sorcerous to throw off his balance like she did. And with only a few quiet words she broke the spell that drew him in.

"So, that's how legends are made." Layla whispered.

Suddenly he became aware of how close to her he was, and their audience. Clearing his throat and stepping back he attempted to cover his flushed state with feigned humility.

"You are gracious in your compliment." He said as he bowed.

Confused, by his change in demeanor, she returned the formality.

"We should get back for dinner, before dad sends Octavian looking for us." Rayen advised.

Lyra nodded her agreement sheathed her sword and joined her sisters for the walk home.

Leo took up the lead to the cart horse and followed the women. Listening to emery's joyful chatter with her twin and catching the occasional backwards glance from Lyra, he decided he had some meditating to do.

*single edge Chinese broad sword used for chopping and slicing.