I own nothing, but my OC and Sarah.
She was carrying a pile of six pizza boxes, a large cake box, and some free breadsticks through an abandoned train station. She was returning after a day of making small repairs followed by a Bible study on I Corinthians 13. She was thinking a lot about bearing all things, believing all things, and overcoming all things. Then she heard something.
She couldn't see anything, but flimsy cardboard. That didn't matter much when it came to navigation. She'd memorized the turns. But it might matter in terms of self-defense.
At first, she thought maybe Sarah from the Bible Study had followed her. She'd picked something up for her own two boys at the pizza parlor driving her there. She'd had to dodge a lot of offers of playdates from Sarah. Thankfully, the other woman's children were six, so she could always point out the age gap as a reason it wouldn't work.
Sarah had reluctantly let her loose a few blocks from here, when she'd said the boys' father would be quite upset should someone else learn where he lived. Splinter's (she actually called him 'the boy's father' outside the lair) paranoia was well known in her church by now. He long ago had learned by "new clan," she hadn't meant ninja, but the "Church." He'd been both relieved and nervous. Her being so connected with any group of people on the surface threatened to expose her to someone who meant them ill. Still, if there was one place Saki or the Association probably wouldn't look for them, it was a church populated mostly by middle and lower middle-class, native born New Yorkers most of whom were far removed from the world of the Japanese settled area Yoshi had first lived in on coming to this country and which she had first worked in.
She noticed, now, there were three sets of footsteps behind her and they were not heavy enough to be Kraang and not light enough to be ninja or association. She put her boxes down and turned. Three boys were behind her and one of them had a knife. She almost found it cute if she hadn't been afraid he'd cut himself. She shrugged at them with a smile. "What do you want?"
"Your purse."
She turned it upside down and spilled its contents. They stared. "What?"
She shrugged. "No wallet. I don't carry cash, mostly wire transfers and checks I've already deposited. And if you think, you can get through the encryption on my phone to use it for anything or even wipe and resale it, good luck with that."
They frowned. The one with the knife tensed. She saw the shift in his weight placement. She shook her head. "Oh, boys, you don't want to do this."
He charged her. She moved, letting his arm go by, and bringing hers up to grab it. She brought her other hand up to peel his fingers back from the knife-hilt while his friends watched and then spun and let him go. He fell on the seat of his pants in time to watch her send his knife into a graffiti bullseye several yards away. Then she looked back to the boys.
They were staring at her, looking so scared, of her, and of admitting they were scared. She sighed. "How about you pick up and put everything back in my purse, say 'please,' and I'll give you the breadsticks? Then we'll call it a night."
One of them tried to steal her Chapstick of all things as he helped with the pick up. She put him in a brief hold and got it back. The others had already been turning away and stuffing their mouths with breadstick without noticing. She'd whispered, "don't steal," in his ear before letting him go. He'd walked away pretty fast. Then she'd grabbed the boxes and turned away from them. By the time he'd looked back over his shoulder he could see nothing, but shadows.
. . .
Over the turnstiles, stop. Don't get out of your crouch. Glance around. Wait …
"MOM'S HOME!"
A skateboard went over her as an arm reached down. She moved the pizza poxes out of grab range. Before Mikey could express his disappointment, Raph's voice broke out. "FINALLY!"
He charged with sai. His attacks were a bit harder to dodge and right on top of each other. She had to hold the boxes up above her head at arms-length and him back by the plastron with her other hand as he stabbed toward the boxes she held.
"Whooooohooooooooo!"
Mikey came by again this time with his nunchucks. She tossed the boxes in the air. An end of a nunchuck whistling by above her without hitting cardboard. "Ooooooooooooh, MAN!"
"Don't announce your attack, Mikey!" She was impressed he was aiming for the pepperoni and anchovy boxes, though. That topping combo was his favorite, though he would make attempts at the others too when it was gone. She felt the boxes come down back on her hand and turned to avoid Raph's stabs, stepping up onto a turnstile. He growled below her.
Wait a moment! This stack felt lighter. She glanced upward while holding her red-clad son off with the heel of her now bare foot pressed into his forehead allowing his own momentum moving forward to do the work, and following his attempt to move side to side to keep him away. She sent a scowl up at the stack of boxes in her hand.
There! A glint of light on a sword-point, but the rest of the sword seemed hidden by something. She left off her battle with Raphael, spun, jumped up and grabbed the edge of the missing box before spinning in the air and landing on the concrete below barely keeping all the boxes between her two clenching hands now. "Nice try, Leo. Donatello if you want any, you better get out here!"
"He's in his lab again!" This voice was mixed with the sound of rolling wheels. Mikey made his third attempt now! He reached out while speeding by.
She pulled the boxes away. "Again, don't announce your attack!"
"Yeah! Try using stealth for once, Mikey, Raph!" Leo landed after jumping down from the high point he'd been using before to catch his box when she'd thrown them all into the air earlier. Raph puffed out his breath. "Like you're doing better!"
Leo smirked at Raph in the slight light. "I am." Unlike Mikey, Leo made no second attempt after speaking, but backed away into deeper shadows again. She smiled and shook her head. Good strategy, but she knew their very smells, even down here in the dark.
The lab door opened. A tall figure was silhouetted against the light coming from inside the lab, before the door closed behind it. A whirring sound followed.
She moved. This time something whizzed by her with a long line behind it. Her eyes widened. A grappling hook? She almost laughed. "Nice try Donnie."
Then another sound of something whizzing through the air was followed by a soft crunch and squish. She glanced up wide eyed and mouthed. "Nice try again, but I think you speared the cake, not your pizza box."
"He SPEARED the CAKE!"
The lights came on. Raph was by the switch staring murder at the cake box. It did indeed have Donnie's naginata protruding from it. Donnie stood in front of his lab staring at it, his lanky form slouching. "Oops …"
"Well done my sons, particularly, you, Leonardo. But your mother still won."
Splinter stood in the doorway of the Hamato dojo smiling. The four turtles all slouched low, arms hanging so their three fingered hands were near the floor and groaned. "Noooooooo …"
Splinter continued. "If you want to eat your pizza and cake, you must either prove you are fully accomplished, adult ninja by taking the box that is yours from her, when she arrives, or you will have to accept it from her the usual way."
Their mother got down gently on one knee after removing the naginata from the cake and leaning on it as she did so. Then she turned her head to the side. Leonardo, as usual, led. He sighed, walked forward, grabbed his pizza box from the stack and gave her a kiss on the cheek before turning away. "Thank you, mom."
Mikey zipped over next and gave her a good smackaroo on the same cheek before grabbing "two" pizza boxes, both his. He gave her a big toothy grin, before zipping away again with his prize. "Thank you, mom."
Donnie came up and pressed a more ginger peck on her cheek with a gentle smile before taking his pizza box, and naginata. "Thanks mom."
"You're welcome, Donnie." She knew that had been hard for him. So close, yet so far, and the others were going to glare at him when it came time to cut the cake.
Raph came up arms crossed and bottom lip protruding. She smiled, "Raph, they're all too busy stuffing their faces to watch at this point."
His eyes widened at her, he spun to give a glance behind his shell. Sure enough, all of his brothers were walking away each putting a pizza slice in his mouth. Well, Mikey was putting in two, or three? Leo and Mikey were striding to the kitchen, Donnie to his lab. Splinter's voice rang out. "Donatello, you are not returning to your lab. We are about to celebrate in the kitchen together."
Donnie sighed, but obediently changed course without looking back. Raph gave a glance at her, them, her, them. Then he grabbed his box and gave her a quick peck, and, after turning away, a slower, "Thanks mom," before departing for the kitchen too. Now she held only a cheese pizza and the cake.
Splinter came up beside her. He looked down at her. 'You are late. Was there trouble?"
"Eh," she shrugged. 'Nothing I couldn't handle." He took the cheese pizza and cake box. "I will carry these the rest of the way, then. Thank you." Splinter was the only one exempt from the kiss law. And their sessions of "take the box" had gone on too long for their hungry sons' tastes'.
Then they were around the table together. By the second piece of cake, Mikey looked at the mutant rat and asked with big, puppy eyes, "Tell us the story, Master Splinter."
He smiled gently back. "Mikey, I have told that story many times."
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease!"
Raph slapped a hand over his mouth. "Please, Master Splinter, it's the only way to shut Mikey up about it."
She gave them both a grin over the table icing around her lips. 'Get your hand off his mouth, Raphael."
He did, and Mikey sent a cheesy grin toward Splinter, who began. It almost made her sigh. She had no part in this tale. But she did know of the Kraang, a little bit. And she listened carefully, no longer eating, to see if she could glean any more information or revelations from its retelling this time. She couldn't.
The Kraang were still out there for all they knew, as were Saki, and the association. She was being careful, but she was still the weak link traveling from one place to another. She'd actually been careful with those boys in the abandoned train station to use very simple moves one might learn by regularly attending a self-defense class. And she hoped for their own pride's sake they wouldn't talk about it to anyone.
"And that was how we came to be a family."
"Except mom," Raph added with a grin that looked a little smug. He tilted his head toward her as she playfully scowled back. Her smile beneath the furrowed brow gave her away, though. He continued as if he didn't notice. "'She' joined us later."
Splinter nodded and smoothed his beard. "Indeed, and if she had not, 'you' would be eating algae and worms right now."
Suddenly, two strong, pizza and icing stained arms were gripping the life out of her. She glanced down to see the freckled profile of Michelangelo below her arms but over his own wrapped around her middle. He spoke with his eyes still closed. "Thanks, Mom!"
She smiled down at him. "You're welcome, Sweetie."
Splinter looked up again, "And now, presents!"
Mikey released her, perhaps Splinter's goal all along, and raised his arms above his head in a cheer. "Yeah!"
"After you all clean up."
"Awwwwww …" All four turtles slouched in their seats, but then hurried to the bathroom. She looked up at him with a smile, and mouthed, "Thank you."
He smiled back. Then, he went to fetch the presents from his own room in the dojo. It was the only place they could successfully keep things from them.
Then they were in the living room, shredded paper all around. Mikey was snuggling a new video game box. He also had a box of crayons and paper in plastic beside him. Raph was smiling in pride at a new weight bag, that had been the heaviest thing for her to lug down there of everything, and a new heat lamp for Spike. Leo liked the artwork of Japan before him a traditional style scene of cherry blossoms and a palace in the background, and poster of modern-day Mt. Fugi. And Donnie was flipping through the scientific journals probably comparing his scientific studies and their results with those of the scientists in the world above. A new beaker set also sat beside him.
Mikey looked to her and spoke again. "Thank you, Mom."
She smiled at him. "You're welcome, Sweetie, your father helped pick them out."
Leo looked to both of them. "Thank you, mom, dad."
Splinter nodded and answered. "You are welcome, Leonardo. All of you are welcome."
The kids got up, even Raph, and gave them both hugs, Donatello and Raph were in the outer layer, but they were there. Splinter spoke near the center of the pile with her. "Now, you get an hour to play with and put away your new things, and pick out a game, before we watch how we came to this point in our family."
They did, Raph hung up his bag, with a bit of help from Splinter and found Spike and showed it to him as well as the tortoise's own new heat lamp. Mikey came back with a "lot" of new art pieces and the game still stuck under his arms, and a bowl of popcorn in his hands. Donatello came back and sat right next to her. There he began chattering to her between kernels of popcorn about what he'd read, and his own opinions of the conclusions other scientists had drawn from their findings, and how he planned to use the beaker set to either replicate their work or do his own original experiments. She listened, smiled, and asked questions while the others simply stared. Leo returned and sat next to Splinter with a big grin on his face.
Then they popped in the home movies. They could play video games afterward for the same amount of time they watched. Images of falls, foils, water balloon fights, skateboard accidents, dojo successes and fails, book readings, homework displays (particularly Donnie's), Spike's first day in the lair all played before them for about three hours. And they also played video games for three hours. Then they finally went to bed.
Their mother, however, watched them go, sighed, and stayed on the couch.
"What is it, Mayu?"
Splinter's voice was gentle, but it did little to lift her spirits. "They're fourteen now."
"Yes?"
"That's the age I was, when I … ran away."
"Ah."
"Do you think they're happy?"
Splinter watched them go to their rooms, Donnie glanced at his lab, them, lab, and then turned and sighed trotting to his room. She gave a soft smile. Splinter's voice came calmly beside her. "I think so."
"Donnie is resentful we can't understand all he does."
"You listen, and make sure he is thanked, when he accomplishes something for someone else."
"Raph is resentful of all of us almost all of the time."
"You understand him even better than me and can help him through that after going through it yourself."
"Leo resents how much he does and how hard he tries while the others don't."
"And we encourage him through that."
"Mikey wants friends so badly."
"I know, and we do all we can to make sure he knows he has them here."
"Anyone could do anything to them up there."
He gripped her shoulder and she looked to him. "And we do all we can to prepare them for that. And 'we' will find each other if any one of us becomes lost."
She gave him a smile.
. . .
"Anything?"
"No, great Shredder, still no sign of either Hamato Yoshi, or Rin in New York City. No reports of ninja or the Hamato clan."
"Keep looking."
The Foot soldier nearly sighed but restrained himself. "Of course, Master."
"I still think you should send me."
Now Shredder almost sighed. "Karai, you are only fourteen."
"Nearly fifteen now."
"Perhaps someday, we will both go together and learn the truth of what happened to Hamato Yoshi and Rin. If he killed her, we will avenge both my old right hand and your mother."
Karai's voice lowered and got some bite. Her mouth curved up into a shark-like grin as she continued. "And if she betrayed us?"
Shredder looked forward emotionlessly as he answered the one, he called daughter. "Then we will avenge ourselves on them both."
And so it begins …
God Bless
ScribeofHeroes
