OMG guys! NEW STORY ALERT! So, all this quarantine stuff has meant that I have a bit more time on my hands, and so while trying to work through some writer's block on my original WIP, I thought I'd come back to some of my Fanfiction. And I have missed it!
This story is quite special to me: I wrote it alongside A New Feature so it is one of my original pieces that has been sitting on my laptop for YEARS. But I'm so happy to have released all the preceding works so that I can finally share it with you guys! It follows around 18 months after Lessons of Time, Part 2. It's a cute piece with a bit of drama (of course) and some familiar faces, friendly and not so friendly. I hope you guys enjoy it!
Chapter One
Venus winced as she lay in bed. Her stomach griped in pain, and she clutched it, folding herself into a ball as she tried to fight against the twinge. A wave of nausea hit her, and she scrambled out of bed to the bathroom, just making it. She gasped as shivers racked her body, her knees weak and shaky, but felt decidedly better... for now at least.
Despite being 25 years old, and everything that they had been through, the lives of the Hamato clan remained as chaotic as usual. The Foot Clan were still at large, led by Karai, and Hun had taken charge of the Purple Dragons. The latest encounter with the former had involved the clan interrupting a museum heist, Karai's determination in stealing supposed 'Foot' artifacts being fruitless with the Hamato's defeating of them. She had come prepared though, releasing a toxic gas that had the clan coughing and stumbling. Venus and Raph had been closest to the canister and therefore received a direct hit, the latter falling unconscious while Venus tried to isolate the toxin to a certain part of the room before succumbing herself. She woke up back in the lair a few hours later feeling nauseous before promptly throwing up. For the following few days the others felt just as ill, constantly occupying the bathroom. April and Casey were banned from the lair while Master Splinter tried to care for his sons. Donatello hadn't been able to identify the toxin but a few days after the mission he, Mikey, and Leo were back to normal, Raphael a few days later. Venus however was still suffering.
She had rarely been ill in her life, but the almost routine vomiting had the family worried. Venus could deal with it, since her rushed trip to the bathroom indicated she would get a few hour's relief from her stomach gripes. It was the near constant nausea that frustrated her: she couldn't read, watch TV, or be around particularly strong smells. Pizza, chocolate, cheese, anything remotely rich set her off. Donatello had ordered a diet of dry toast, plain rice or noodles, and non-acidy food for a while to help settle her stomach while he tried to figure what was wrong. Michelangelo had thought her new diet as a form of torture, she remembered with a smile. But as Venus rinsed her face with cold water, she wondered if she would ever be cured of her 'ailment': no amount of blood tests, lung tests, brain wave tests, or whatever else Don could think of seemed to diagnose her.
"I should know more once I've identified the toxin. I've just got a few more tests to run."
He'd been saying this for over a week now. The worst part was not knowing. She just didn't feel…normal. But then again, with her lifestyle, what exactly was 'normal'? She washed her mouth with mouthwash, its fresh minty flavour settling her stomach a little, and tip-toed back into her room. She saw Leonardo sleeping peacefully in their bed, his face unusually calm and peaceful. Venus smiled gratefully, thankful that he'd been the furthest away from the canister that night, directly dealing with Karai instead. He'd still been ill, but not quite as badly as the others.
They had been married for nearly a year and a half now.
All five turtles and the old rat still lived together in the old abandoned pump station on the edge of central park. The shadow of the Shredder still loomed over them, his lack of presence never easing their anticipation of his return. However, two pint-sized distractions had since entered their lives thanks to April and Casey: May had been born a month before Leo and Venus' wedding. Now nearly two, she was a toddling machine, usually making a beeline for her favourite uncle. Despite acting tough, the clan could see how much Raphael loved the newcomer, and how much Casey's insistence that he be her 'un-legal' guardian had meant to him. She was an energetic child, constantly on the move and making some sort of noise. She had naturally captured Michelangelo's heart, and the pair were as thick as thieves when May wanted to cause some mischief. Mona, while not the biggest fan of children, couldn't help laughing at how Raphael interacted with his 'niece'. Donatello was a little awkward around her. When she was a baby on babysitting nights, he would cradle her and chatter about the latest inter-dimensional travel theorem or one of his latest experiments, which Mikey noted always got her to go to sleep. But now she refused to sit still and listen, Donatello was at a loss of how to interact with the child.
Joseph, however, was a different story. At seven months old, he was beginning to babble, but he was much quieter than his sister. The spitting image of his mother, the boy would quite happily sit with anyone, but seemed most content when with Donatello as he spoke about any of his experiments, theorems, the latest book he was reading. Anything. The child would sit there content, taking a lot longer to go to sleep than May used to.
"I'm telling you, he's listening to me," Donny stated one evening when Raph sniggered at his 'geek talk'.
"Of course he is, Brainiac. If he could talk he'd probably give you a list of further reading."
Much to everyone's surprise (especially Donny's), April had made Donny 'un-legal' guardian of Joseph.
"April, are you sure? I don't even have any experience with children," he said when she made the announcement.
"What, and your brothers do?" She replied, eyebrow raised. "Just think of it as an experiment. How much of your intellect, skill, and kind-heartedness can you pass onto Joseph without him exploding?"
"April, you do know that that's your child, yeah?" Raph asked. He couldn't help looking a little smug though: Casey had made him 'un-legal' guardian of May.
Master Splinter seemed perfectly content with both children, and they with him. Whenever they got a little unruly, all it took was Master Splinter's peaceful presence to calm them down, before they went to sit with him as he told one of his numerous stories. There had been one particularly sweet incident when the pair had fallen asleep against the old rat, making the boys smile.
"Aww, ain't that cute," Raph commented, his arm around Mona. "Hey guys, remember when we were that cute and easy to deal with?"
"Yeah," Mikey replied. "We must have been little green angels when we were that small."
Venus caught the look between Leo and Donny.
"My sons, you seem to have a very different memory of that time to me. I only remember green, not angels."
Mona let out a howling laugh, Raph having to drag her away so that she didn't wake up the kids. Mikey pouted, throwing himself on the sofa while Leo and Don sat either side of him.
"The truth hurts bro," Donny comforted.
"But, but why wait all this time to say something?"
"We thought you knew," Leo replied.
Master Splinter smiled at Venus. "I do remember the green being very cute though, as I think your father would agree."
She smiled in return, eyeing the two children in his lap. While she undoubtedly loved the two children, she was unsure of how to act around them. They just seemed so fragile, and her lack of experience didn't help matters. When they had been very small, she had loved cradling them, whispering stories of her childhood while they slept. She once caught Leo staring at her as she did so, a smile on his face. She wasn't sure on his thoughts on the children. When they had been born, Master Splinter had given him the honour of giving the 'clan blessing', a small ceremony during which offerings of rice, tea, and fish were made and a prayer said over them and whichever child was being blessed. It was to decree the children as part of the Hamato clan, and therefore under their guidance and protection.
"Yeah, but we knew that anyway. What's with the fancy ceremony?" Casey whispered to April as May was being blessed.
"It's a tradition that dates back hundreds of years and one that Master Splinter has never been able to perform," she whispered back, earning a nod from Venus. "Casey, they're doing it to show how much we, and our children, mean to them. Try and appreciate it."
"I would if I could understand what they were saying!"
Venus smiled at that, watching as Leo handed May to Raphael, and months later Joseph to Donatello, cementing them as their 'clan guardians'. Both times, she noticed he held the babies ever so gently, cradling them as though they were made of precious glass, but with confidence. As they grew, he never shied away from interacting with the kids, ruffling their hair or chucking their chins. He just never seemed to actively seek them out.
It was an image of him thumbing tears away from May's cheeks after she had fallen over that eventually let her fall asleep.
The next morning, after another failed attempt at training, Venus was sat meditating in the living room when April, Casey, May, and Joseph appeared in the lair.
"April!" Venus greeted, glad to see her friend. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, Donny's given us the all clear to come visit; Angel offered to watch the shop, giving us a day off; and it isn't fair to expect you guys to keep visiting us, is it May?"
She smiled down towards her daughter, who gave Venus a toothy grin. "Raffa?" She almost whispered. It was one of three words her apparently advanced brain could conjure. Venus bent down a little.
"I think he is training with Uncle Michelangelo, but he shouldn't be-"
"RAPH! Get out here, dude!" Casey suddenly hollered. Venus laughed a little at the sight of a hockey-masked vigilante standing behind a baby stroller. April frowned at him, before the giggle of the young occupant softened her features. She scooped him out into her arms. He was growing a little tuft of reddish hair.
"Jeesh Case, can you shout any louder?" Raphael strolled in, quickly sheathing his Sais when he saw the children. May's face lit up.
"Raffa!" She cried, running towards him.
"Hey May," he smiled, opening his arms and lifting her up on his shoulders. The child began giggling at Michelangelo when he started making faces behind his brother's back.
"Mikey, you know I can see your reflection in the mirror right?" Mikey stood stock still, seeing the mirror that sat by the doorway.
"Erm, I'll go let Master Splinter know your here." He panicked, sprinting from the room.
"Hehe, what a schmuck." Raphael chuckled, leading the group towards the couch.
Donatello and Leonardo looked up from their places in the kitchen, smiling.
"On washing-up duty, guys?" April laughed.
"The cycle ever-rotates," Donny answered, drying his hands on a towel.
"Yes, and it's not as if we'd let Mikey near the dishes, is it?" Leo added, putting the last plate away in the cupboard. He made his way over to the couch and sat next to Venus, who gestured to April to sit. She smiled at little Joseph.
"He just gets cuter every time we see him."
"Yeah, well he's also getting heavier." April smiled.
"What? He's big boned, like his father." Casey commented proudly.
"More like big mouthed," Raph replied, lifting May to the ground.
"Raphael, all children are beautiful," Master Splinter chided, making his way to the couch. He sat down next to April, cooing a little at Joseph.
"Yeah, but not necessarily their fathers," his son muttered, leaning against a pillar. But he smiled nonetheless. May clambered onto Splinter's lap.
"Sp? Sp?" The beginnings of 'Splinter' had appeared a few days ago with no further development.
"That's right, little one," he smiled. "Splinter."
"Sp," she replied, smiling to herself. The rat rolled his eyes.
"One day."
"You just gotta talk to her more!" Mikey offered, walking in with a slice of cold pizza. "Then she'll be talking all the time!"
"What, like her uncle?" Raph quipped.
"If you mean like her adorably awesome uncle, then yeah," Mikey grinned, taking a bite.
The scent of cheese and grease suddenly found Venus' nostrils, and a wave of nausea hit her. Not now! She sprinted to the bathroom, locking the door.
"Is she still feeling sick?" April asked.
"It would seem so," Splinter answered, his brow furrowed.
"I don't understand it. We were all exposed to that toxin, admittedly she and Raph more so, but even he's perfectly recovered now. I'm waiting on the results from my latest sample but I'm pretty sure it's simple plant based non-lethal toxin used in ancient Japanese warfare," Donny stated. "Even so, she shouldn't be having as prolonged a reaction as this."
"Not if it's Mikey's cooking that's getting to her." Raph offered, trying to hide his concern.
"Hey! She only had toast this morning, and she made it," Mikey replied, before finishing his pizza.