Chapter Thirty-One: A Repeat of Yesterday

"Saja!" Don bent over her, his sore body forgotten, and gently grabbed her shoulders. "It's okay! He said he wouldn't hurt you!"

After a tiny delay, the forgnathu churned out a translation from English to Jior. A tiny part of Don's brain noticed. Surely this device wasn't designed with her heart language in mind—does that mean it can translate any language?

"He's a Jior—a Jior! Don't let him take me back—I can't—the Council, they—I've already been punished—What would the Technology do this time?"

Leo, Casey, and Taevon himself had of course noticed the disturbance by this point; Taevon had stood so quickly that his chair had fallen over.

"Be still, Saeyaja!" Taevon called in Jior as he approached with slow steps, hands up in an I'm harmless pose, his face twisted with concern. "Never would I bring you before the Council again. The punishment overshadowed your crime… if it was a crime at all."

Leo shadowed Taevon, outwardly calm, but Don knew he was ready for action. Casey hung back. That's wise. Good job, Casey.

Don turned to the left so he was still more or less between Saja and her countryman, but no longer leaning over her. "It's okay, Saja. He's a friend. He told us how you were unfairly punished. He didn't approve of how you were treated—and my brothers and I don't, either."

For the first time, Saja's gaze widened from tunnel vision. She took in the living room before her and the turtles, Jior, and human in it: she stared at Taevon, then Leo behind him, and Casey in the corner. Her body language eased.

"Is… brother?" She whispered finally, in labored English. She learned some English?

Her eyes flicked left, past Don. "Brother Raph," she said, a touch of happiness in her eyes.

"Yep, it's me," Raph said, his voice raspier than usual with tiredness. He was leaning against the back of the chair behind Don, to Saja's left. "Ya brought me back from that nutty place. An' if it'd been me watchin' somebody get pushed around, I woulda' done th' same thing—I can't stand bullies."

Good call, Raph. Don nodded. "He sure can't. And that's my brother Leo—he has a strong sense of right and wrong, too. And the guy in the corner is Casey, our human friend. Sometimes he and Raph go out just to put bullies in their place. Mikey's around here somewhere too. The point is, none of us think it was right for your Council to punish you." Oh, there he is—he was in the kitchen after all.

Saja's eyes shone with emotions. She opened her mouth and closed it again.

Taevon stepped forward. "Saeyaja… my heart hurts to admit that I should have spoken when the Council proclaimed your guilt. I wanted to speak, but I didn't know what to say. You know that Jior never question the Council. Especially not Elder Nafti. So I was silent, and you suffered, and afterward I distanced myself even more from the Jior." His face clouded with guilt. "The great Parvoss would not be pleased with me," he added in a whisper.

Don—and indeed the whole room—waited breathlessly to see Saja's reaction. Who is this great Parvoss guy, anyway? A deity? A hero?

Finally, tears slid down the girl's cheeks. "Palak—sorry," she whispered, as her face swung between sadness and relief. "Never has anyone said the Council was wrong, and that my choice was right. I feel…" she gulped. I wish April was here, since she's a) female, and b) is really good at giving encouraging and supportive hugs. "Less like an exile."

"Oh, Saeyaja," Taevon murmured.

Mikey, who'd been hesitating near the kitchen doorway, heard his cue and swept in. He hurried over and slipped past Don. "You look like you need a patented Mikey hug. I know I might look ferocious—I am a ninja, after all—but I'm actually as cuddly as a teddy bear." He spread out his arms and grinned.

Easy, Mikey—she doesn't know you.

Saja offered a shaky smile through her tears and, after a heartbeat, spread out her arms slightly.

This was all the encouragement Mikey needed; he bent and enveloped her in a gentle hug.

She cried a bit more, but only for a minute, and then Don saw her hands reach around more of Mikey's shell. He mumbled calming words. The others watched awkwardly. Raph moved around the chair he'd been leaning on and fell into it. Well, good thing Mikey's here and he doesn't mind comforting a girl who's basically a stranger to him… Well, I guess most strangers who aren't Foot or Purple Dragons or whatever are basically potential friends to Mikey.

After a moment, Saja had calmed down. When she pulled away, Mikey smiled down at her. "I don't like bullies either, and your leaders sound like shell-brains. Oh, and by the way, thanks for rescuing my big bro Raph. Who would I tease without him around?" Don was so distracted watching Saja's face and body language that he missed Mikey reaching to Saja's right for a pillow.

"Don't even think about it, Mikey," Raph growled.

Saja smiled a bit—a real smile—and Don counted this as a victory.

Mikey held up his hands innocently, grinned, and moved off to the right, out of Saja's bubble. "So you can travel to like, anywhere? Man, I wish I could do that! Getting pizza would be so much easier!"

Saja small smile remained. "It's very difficult to go to a specific place, unless you've been there many times," she explained in Jior. "Raphael had to help me get us here by focusing on his home."

"Yeah, Taevon made me do that too," Casey said from his new position behind Splinter's chair. "It was hard."

Saja's eyes flicked to Don. "So, Don…" she said haltingly in English. "You found brother."

She picked up more English than I thought. She must've really studied those picture books. Don grinned. "Yes, with a little help. You left on… what day was that? Wednesday, in the morning. That night, the Gamer gave me an address, and I went through a labyrinth, found Mikey-" He gestured to Mikey, who grinned and waved- "and together we went through a giant obstacle course. Mikey, this is Saja, or Saeyaja. Saja, this is my little brother Mikey—or Michelangelo, if you're mad at him or feeling formal."

The girl stood. She brought her hands together and bowed in imitation of the Japanese style. "I am Saeyaja K'el, or Saja. I am… happy to… meet you." Her English came slowly, but fairly clearly.

Where'd she—Oh, right, I guess she remembered that from me.

"Michelangelo at your service!" With a flourish of his hand, Mikey bowed in a more Western style. "If you ever need a pizza-eating buddy, I'm game!"

That's going to confuse her. Don frowned at him.

"Mikey," Leo warned softly.

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Fine." He bowed politely in the Japanese style. "Hamato Michelangelo. Hajimemashite."

Confusion crossed Saja's face before she settled on a polite smile and nod. She turned back to Don. "Then?"

"Nothing relevant happened on Thursday, but on Friday night, the Gamer gave me another address, and this time I had to fight a bunch of Foot—they're enemies, ninjas—and then Master Splinter helped me defeat the boss and rescue Leo. Saja, this is my oldest brother, Leo, or Leonardo. He's the leader, and an amazing ninja. Leo, this is Saja." The translator faithfully churned out a translation.

Saja repeated her bow. "I am happy… to meet you, L-Leonardo."

Leo approached and bowed smoothly. "Hamato Leonardo. I'll admit I was surprised to hear that you showed up and volunteered to go find Raph and bring him back… but you delivered. Thank you for bringing him back. It sounds like that was difficult."

Pink touched the girl's brown cheeks. "I-I-" She stopped and, looking down, spoke softly in Jior. "I knew where he was, and I get so few chances to help others, and, and if I had been in Don's place… I would have wanted help."

Don cleared his throat. Time to move on. "Saturday night is when you and Raph came back—you met him already, obviously—and apparently Casey and Taevon got back just after you. Casey is our, and especially Raph's, human friend. Casey, this is Saja. Saja, this is Casey Jones."

Casey looked a bit surprised, but he shuffled forward as Saja bowed and repeated her English phrase, which was sounding smoother now.

"Uh, I don't really bow like dey do, so, uh-" He stuck out his hand.

She doesn't know handshakes, Casey. While Don was trying to decide if should whisper this information, just say it, or try to catch Casey's eye, movement caught his own eye: behind Casey's back, Taevon mimed a handshake.

After a second, Saja hesitantly copied him and received a slightly awkward handshake. "Thanks, uh, for gettin' Raph back. I didn't know he'd gotten hit 'til I got back, but I woulda' been mad an' upset. Dunno what I would do without my bro Raph." Curiosity flickered in her eyes as Casey dropped her hand.

As Casey stepped back, Don cleared his throat. Sounds like she's done a ton of traveling, so she'll understand the concept of different cultures. "There are different cultures in this world. We were raised by our sensei, Master Splinter—you met him—in the Japanese culture, mostly. Casey grew up in the culture of where we are, which is New York City."

Understanding sparked on Saja's face, and she nodded gratefully.

Then Taevon, after a second of hesitation, stepped forward. Don sensed some of the tension return to Saja's body. "Saeyaja K'el." He stopped further away than everyone else had, inclined his head a little, and spread his hands at waist level. Sadness and regret shone in his striking gold eyes. Don again wondered if Saja's eyes had been golden like his before her punishment. Maybe all Jior had gold eyes. Not a question I can ask Saja. Maybe I can ask Taevon later, though. He's been quite friendly and open so far.

"It is I, Taevon Yue'lah, of the Reddeh Tribe. Or perhaps you remember me as Laith, my birth name," he added, then wrung his hands for a moment before working up the courage to speak again. Birth name? I wonder what that means. "I apologize so deeply for frightening you. I do not know what you know of me, but even before your unjust punishment, I was odd among our people. I time-traveled instead of world-traveled, mostly, and when you broke the High Law, I realized that perhaps… perhaps that law should have been broken long ago. Perhaps the Jior should not merely observe."

Whoa. I'm guessing this is big for this people. It sounds like their whole philosophy, their whole culture, is based around observing and not interfering.

Saja didn't say anything for a long moment. Mikey started to twitch.

Finally she nodded. "Thank you… for your words, Taevon." She blinked rapidly a few times, took a deep breath, and looked at Don. "C-can I-" She started in English, then sighed and switched to Jior. "May I trouble you for a little bit of food?"

Goodness, she must be starving to ask me directly. Either that, or she's gotten a lot braver since last time. Don opened his mouth to answer her, but Mikey beat him to it with a gasp. "You're hungry? I shoulda' thought of that, since Taevon was super hungry when he woke up. I shoulda' brought some food in when I heard you wake up. Good thing I was just starting on some early lunch! C'mon into the kitchen! Everybody else, too. The travelers can tell us stories and stuff. Oh, and Leo! We really need to go shopping!"

Don snickered to himself as Mikey pulled his newest victim to the kitchen. He limped behind, translator in hand, to make sure Mikey didn't stuff her too full, or leave her without a chance to slip away and use the bathroom, or forget that she couldn't understand English without the translator nearby. Welcome to the Lair as it usually is, Saja. Meet my family.