Hanami – Chapter 30

            "Ok, so I overreacted."  Sterling sat, leaned up against a stump, a few paces off the trail.  "At least I didn't make a scene INSIDE the house.  Raph probably thinks I'm mental, but hell, I haven't spoiled the surprise for the rest of them, yet."  She picked up a stick and threw it end over, trying to hit the tree opposite her seat. 

            "It was not cool what he did, but I should've just said something."  She grimaced and picked up another stick.  "No, that's not right.  I would have said something hurtful.  I was right to get out of there before I lost it."  The second stick missed its mark.  "I was just so worried about Shima, and I wanted to fix something for her.  Help her somehow.  Then I come into the kitchen, and not only is he in my place, but he won't let me help."

She snarled, "Help?!  Who the fuck said I wanted to help?  I wanted – wanted to just fucking FIX the damn thing."  She whirled another stick at the tree.  This one hit.  "Now I'm sitting, less than useless, in the middle of a forest talking to myself so that I don't upset anybody else…"

            "Talking to yourself isn't the problem.  It's when you answer yourself that you're in trouble."  She smiled at her own joke, and lobbed another stick at the offending tree.

            Raphael stepped out from behind the target tree, just in time to duck as the throw went wide.  "Christ!"  He looked off into the bracken where the stick had landed.  "We gotta work on that aim."

            Sterling could feel the small amount of calm she'd managed to gather draining away.  "What?  Has it been an hour?"

            'Damn, those eyes could put a hole through a brick wall.'  "Yeah.  It has.  You're worrying folks.  Time to go back.  Come on now, or I carry you."  He gestured tersely down the path.

            She got up slowly and dusted herself off.  'She's taking her time.  She's pushing to see if I meant it.'   She stood up straight, squared her shoulders and headed down the path.  She looked over his head the entire time.  "Gah!  What the hell is wrong with you!?"  She stopped dead in her tracks. 

            "Your brother is genius-in-residence.  Since he doesn't want to share his Mr. Fix-It-Americana title with anyone, let alone some stupid girl, maybe this girl feels pretty damn useless."

            'Goddammit Raph, she's gonna cry and then you're gonna have a weepy mess on your hands…' That thought died as quickly as it had been born.  She wasn't crying.  She was glaring.

            "I'm not mad at him anymore.  I'm just angry.  I came out here to get away before I fucked things up royally and said shit I didn't mean."  She took a firm step towards him.  "Though you may have meant well, I'm NOT READY TO GO BACK."

            Raph stepped forward, too.  He'd never gotten anywhere with his brothers by backing off. "Yeah well, maybe I didn't mean well.  Did you think of that, Queen of the Harpies?  Maybe what's best for your sisters is seeing their sister safe and sound at home, eating lunch, like a normal turtle and not some spiteful, jealous, whiny bitch!"

            "Huh, what happened to 'you are free to make your own decisions?'  I thought Splinter said you guys agreed with him.  Has he gone back on his word already?!"

            ~*CRACK*~

            Sterling blinked up at him from the ground.  Her eyes were wide with shock.  She could taste blood in her mouth.  Her voice sounded like it was coming from a mile away.  "I guess I had that coming, huh?"

            "No, no, no."  Raphael was trying to wipe away the blood from the corner of her beak.  She pushed him back and rose unsteadily to her feet.

            "What? That's not the first time I've been hit."  She dropped her head to her chest, "Gomen nasai. I apologize."  She patted her cheek, and put a finger in her mouth.  "None of my teeth are loose.  It's alright." Sterling felt his hesitation, and filled the silence.  "I shouldn't have been yelling.  I'm terrible about my temper.  I didn't mean to be so rude."  She glanced at Raphael.  He was staring at her.  "Are you ok?"

            "That's my line," he mumbled.  In a stronger voice he tried to continue.  "I just hit you.  Hard.  You fell over.  You blacked out.  Your beak is still bleeding.  There's gonna be a bruise, and YOU'RE apologizing to ME?" 

            Sterling blinked at him.  Her eyes creased with worry.  "I was in the wrong.  I was being unreasonable.  You were thinking of my sisters, and acting as my brother.  Please.  I'm sorry."

            At the mention of the word 'brother,' Raphael cringed.  "This is all fucked up.  I should never have raised a hand to you.  I mean brothers can yell at their sisters, but they NEVER hurt them.  I should be the one to apologize!"

            "And if the things you said hurt worse than being hit?  What then?  Am I allowed to hit you back?  Can sisters hit their brothers?  Or should only brothers fight in anger?"  She took his hand, and started to walk back toward the house.  "I've seen you and Leonardo spar, and neither one of you holds back.  I understood that that meant that you respected one another as equals and fighters."

            Raphael grappled with her words.  "But you're not a fighter, how can you defend yourself?"  He shook his head, and tried to pull his hand away.

            She refused to let go.  He could either hurt her again, or put up with it.  She smiled quietly, "By using sharper words next time."  She shook her head, "No, that won't do, will it?"   She stopped, forcing him to stop with her.  "How's this?  I can promise to be respectful of my father, my brothers, and my sisters:  their honor, their worries, and their safety.  In return, you can promise to be respectful of the freedom that our father promised my sisters and I."

            Raphael nodded.  "Yeah, but one more thing –" Sterling tilted her head, waiting. "I swear I will never raise a hand to you or your sisters again."

            She spat some blood on the path.  "Then it's a promise."