Disclaimer: I don't own anyone who was ever in the show/comics.
Author's notes: No song in this chapter either. I think I'll save them for when the romance starts up. For now, enjoy the third chapter.
As a side note, This: *~*~*~* means that it's switching from Leo thinking on the rooftop to the memory, or vice versa.
* * * *
The sky turned into a brilliant array of colors as the sun peeked over the horizon, throwing it's warming glow over the city. Bright shades of orange, yellow, and pink took over the midnight blue as the citizens of New York rose sleepily from their beds to go to work. They were all oblivious to the events that transpired the night before, or the tension that was now thick in the air of the lair that morning.
Three of the turtles sat on the couch in front of the television while the other, Leonardo, leaned against the nearby wall. Nearly all of their attention was focused on the being standing closest to the doorway that lead to the sewers, her only escape should they decide they didn't like her. She was very nervous, and the turtles could tell. She inspected everything within her line of sight except the four members of the household.
As soon as she had presented the vial to Leonardo, he quickly called in his brothers and she began to explain how she had come to have it in her possession. It ends up that she was in the alleyway when the fight broke out. She was alerted by the cries of the Foot soldiers as they were struck down. When the vial came hurtling down to the ground, she quickly made to catch it. Raphael couldn't see her because of the shadows, but she could see him. She learned that they lived in the sewers from Michelangelo when he was talking to Raphael. Once she had reached the sewers, it was only a matter of time before she found and followed their footprints, thus leading her to their lair.
Now the tension was mounting as they waited for a sign of Master Splinter's recovery. All the turtles wanted to see if the antidote had worked, but none wanted to leave her alone in their lair. The attention of the turtles was divided between the female and the doorway to Donatello's lab. They were all having their doubts. Raphael was betting himself that she was sent by the Foot, and that the antidote was really a stronger poison to take their sensei's life faster. Leonardo was worried that they hadn't given Master Splinter the antidote soon enough, because it had been two hours and there was still no sign. Michelangelo worried that there was no antidote, and the stuff in the vial would have absolutely no effect. Donatello was considering that the vial with the antidote was switched, and he didn't want to think about what they could have given their sensei just over two hours ago.
Their fretting was interrupted by the sound of something tapping against the hard floor. All five heads snapped around towards Donatello's lab, startled by the sudden noise. The three turtles on the couch could've sworn they heard their necks crick. But soon all thoughts of sore necks left their heads.
There in the doorway to Donatello's lab stood Master Splinter, leaning heavily on his walking stick. The bandage was still wrapped around his midsection, but the red stain was turning a darker shade from the blood drying. His fur was still a little tangled from the fight. Two hours of waiting, and Splinter was awake, and very much alive. The antidote had worked.
There were four blurs of green as three turtles launched themselves over the back of the couch, using one arm as a pole vault to get over. There was the sound of three bodies hitting the ground, but the impact wasn't enough to evade them from reaching their goal. Joined with their brother who was leaning against the wall, four relieved and joyous smiles appeared on their faces. They surrounded their sensei in a mass group hug, albeit a gentle one, each turtle getting their turn at giving their adoptive father a careful hug, which he gratefully returned with an equally relieved smile.
"Master Splinter, you're alive!" Leonardo almost choked on the words as gently embraced his sensei.
The female was temporarily forgotten, left leaning against the wall to watch the reunion. Her amber eyes watched them, full of questions. Her head was tilted at an almost exact forty-five degree angle, her ears perked forward as she listened intently. She was curious of the greeting the elder rat received. She had seen it before, while she was wandering around the streets.
*Flashback*
A woman was running franticly, stopping every once in a while to ask a person if they had seen her daughter, while she pulled at her red hair as she gave a short description. Each time she got a negative answer. She began to run again, stopping a few feet and turned to another woman on the street.
"Excuse me, have you seen my daughter? She's about this tall," she held her hand out to show the height. "And has red hair. She was wearing a pink coat and yellow hat." Her eyes pleaded for a positive answer.
The woman just looked at her and shook her head, then continued walking.
Meanwhile, a few streets away:
"Mommy..."
The little girl was hopelessly lost. She now stood in an alleyway, scared and cold. Snow fell onto her long red hair, which was partially hidden with a yellow hat. She pulled her pink coat tighter around her, sniffling as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Mommy..."
A voice suddenly came out of the darkness from deeper in the alley. It was quiet and sounded female. "This way..."
The girl sniffled again. "I can't. There's bad people and they might get me."
"Don't worry, no one will hurt you."
She sniffled again. "Promise?"
"I promise."
"Okay..." The little girl sniffled again, then made her way deeper into the alley. Being a child, she was still quite afraid of the dark. That was the main reason she started to panic when she found a wall in front of her. Her breathing became faster and she started to whimper.
"Down here..."
The little girl snapped her head around to see another alleyway that joined with this one, and it led to the street. She quickly ran though the shadows, which was a good thing. She didn't notice the two men lying in the darkest corners, deep gashes running down their arms and torso. The garbage underneath them kept the blood from running out into the streetlight's beam that lit a small amount of the alleyway.
The little girl ran out onto the sidewalk where she stopped and waited for further instructions. She still had no idea where the voice was coming from, but she was out of that dark alley.
"Look to your right..."
The girl did as she was told. Her eyes turned to the right and looked down the sidewalk. There was the woman, still running a few feet then asking about her daughter.
"Mommy?"
The woman seemed to hear the little girl's words, and turned to face forward. Her eyes focused on the little girl standing on the sidewalk.
"Katie?"
"MOMMY!" The little girl took off; tears once again pouring down her cheeks as a relieved smile came onto her features.
"KATIE!" The woman also took off, shedding tears of her own.
The woman fell to her knees as she collected her daughter in her arms, embracing her tightly. A mutant cat watched from the nearby rooftop, her head tipped at a forty-five degree angle in curiosity. She was glad that she had managed to get the girl back to her mother safely, but why did they greet each other in that manner? And why were they crying?
*End Flashback*
~
The group hug broke up and now Master Splinter was seated in his favorite chair, surrounded by his sons. After the guys told their sensei how they retrieved the antidote, Master Splinter turned his attention to the female, who was still positioned close to the sewer exit.
"Come, sit down," He motioned to a nearby couch.
She cautiously made her way, keeping a fair distance from all of the turtles. She sat down on the couch, yet remained tense.
"What is your name?"
She stared blankly for a moment, thinking. 'My name? I can't even remember anything before the past five years. Well, maybe Master calls me by my name. Yeah, I'll just give them that.'
"My name is Kijo."
Master Splinter's whiskers twitched at the familiar word, but made no other movement to show it. "You are responsible for saving my life, Kijo. It is because of you I am able to spend another day alive with my sons. We are thankful and ever in your gratitude. If there is anyway we can help you, we will be happy to oblige."
Kijo thought for a moment. "Well, there is one thing..."
~
The room was usually kept for when April stayed too late and felt too tired to go back home. Otherwise it was just there, right next to Leonardo's room. But it would have an occupant that night, because Kijo asked for a place to stay for the night.
"And you can sleep here," said Leonardo as he showed her to the room.
Kijo thanked him, but looked at him with her head tilted at forty-five degrees.
Leonardo noticed and wondered if Michelangelo had put another "Kick Me" sign on his back again. "What?"
She blinked. "What do you call the greeting you and your brothers gave your master when he recovered?"
It was his turn to blink. Didn't she know a hug when she saw one? "We gave him a hug."
"Why?"
This bothered him. He didn't know why, but it did. "Well, he raised us as far back as any of us can remember. We love him like we would a father. He taught us everything we know about ninjitsu."
Kijo began to think, trying to understand the explanation Leonardo was giving. This was all new to her, so she was having difficulties comprehending it all. "So, you hugged him because you love him?"
The way she asked the question bothered him even more. It sounded like she had never heard of it before. His brow furrowed as he nodded. "Haven't you been hugged before?"
She shook her head. "Not that I can remember."
"Oh. I'll let you rest." Leonardo left the room, gnawing on his lower lip as he sat on the couch beside Master Splinter's chair.
"Something disturbs you, my son," observed the elder sensei.
Leonardo nodded, still gnawing. Splinter waited patently. Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo leaned in so they could hear better.
"According to Kijo, she's never been hugged in her life. And by the way it sounds, she hasn't experienced love of any kind. Like it was completely new to her."
This troubled Master Splinter greatly. Everyone experiences love in one way or another; an embrace from a parent, a pat on the back from a friend, even a playful punch on the arm that he has seen many humans do. Even when he was a rat, Splinter had experienced love. His master Yoshi took very good care of him, and a cute antic or a sign of playfulness from his pet brought a smile to Yoshi's face. There were even times when Yoshi talked to his pet, and this made Splinter feel loved. Now that Yoshi was gone, Splinter still felt love from his sons.
How could have Kijo never experienced love? Did she have no family to return to? Her origin was still a mystery to them. Was she born the way she is? Or was she a mutant like them? If so, how long has she been like that? And who named her? She appeared to have a good heart, so why did they name her "She-devil"? It didn't seem like a good name for anyone. He will have to ask her in the morning. Then these many questions would be answered.
*~*~*~*~*
A small, sad smile came onto Leonardo's face as he remembered. She gave them all a good deal to think about. Master Splinter spent hours trying to decide how to handle the situation.
'She was just so mysterious,' decided Leonardo as he sat down on the roof, the back of his coat sprawling onto the concrete. 'She came out of nowhere, saved Master Splinter, then left us all wondering.'
A slow smile grew as he remembered what happened the next day. He didn't think he was ever that embarrassed before, even though his brothers weren't around.
* * * *
Author's note: This chapter is finally done. This fic is going to take forever. Well, we'll have to take it one chapter at a time anyway. Review with your thoughts and I might finish the next one faster than I did this one.
Author's notes: No song in this chapter either. I think I'll save them for when the romance starts up. For now, enjoy the third chapter.
As a side note, This: *~*~*~* means that it's switching from Leo thinking on the rooftop to the memory, or vice versa.
* * * *
The sky turned into a brilliant array of colors as the sun peeked over the horizon, throwing it's warming glow over the city. Bright shades of orange, yellow, and pink took over the midnight blue as the citizens of New York rose sleepily from their beds to go to work. They were all oblivious to the events that transpired the night before, or the tension that was now thick in the air of the lair that morning.
Three of the turtles sat on the couch in front of the television while the other, Leonardo, leaned against the nearby wall. Nearly all of their attention was focused on the being standing closest to the doorway that lead to the sewers, her only escape should they decide they didn't like her. She was very nervous, and the turtles could tell. She inspected everything within her line of sight except the four members of the household.
As soon as she had presented the vial to Leonardo, he quickly called in his brothers and she began to explain how she had come to have it in her possession. It ends up that she was in the alleyway when the fight broke out. She was alerted by the cries of the Foot soldiers as they were struck down. When the vial came hurtling down to the ground, she quickly made to catch it. Raphael couldn't see her because of the shadows, but she could see him. She learned that they lived in the sewers from Michelangelo when he was talking to Raphael. Once she had reached the sewers, it was only a matter of time before she found and followed their footprints, thus leading her to their lair.
Now the tension was mounting as they waited for a sign of Master Splinter's recovery. All the turtles wanted to see if the antidote had worked, but none wanted to leave her alone in their lair. The attention of the turtles was divided between the female and the doorway to Donatello's lab. They were all having their doubts. Raphael was betting himself that she was sent by the Foot, and that the antidote was really a stronger poison to take their sensei's life faster. Leonardo was worried that they hadn't given Master Splinter the antidote soon enough, because it had been two hours and there was still no sign. Michelangelo worried that there was no antidote, and the stuff in the vial would have absolutely no effect. Donatello was considering that the vial with the antidote was switched, and he didn't want to think about what they could have given their sensei just over two hours ago.
Their fretting was interrupted by the sound of something tapping against the hard floor. All five heads snapped around towards Donatello's lab, startled by the sudden noise. The three turtles on the couch could've sworn they heard their necks crick. But soon all thoughts of sore necks left their heads.
There in the doorway to Donatello's lab stood Master Splinter, leaning heavily on his walking stick. The bandage was still wrapped around his midsection, but the red stain was turning a darker shade from the blood drying. His fur was still a little tangled from the fight. Two hours of waiting, and Splinter was awake, and very much alive. The antidote had worked.
There were four blurs of green as three turtles launched themselves over the back of the couch, using one arm as a pole vault to get over. There was the sound of three bodies hitting the ground, but the impact wasn't enough to evade them from reaching their goal. Joined with their brother who was leaning against the wall, four relieved and joyous smiles appeared on their faces. They surrounded their sensei in a mass group hug, albeit a gentle one, each turtle getting their turn at giving their adoptive father a careful hug, which he gratefully returned with an equally relieved smile.
"Master Splinter, you're alive!" Leonardo almost choked on the words as gently embraced his sensei.
The female was temporarily forgotten, left leaning against the wall to watch the reunion. Her amber eyes watched them, full of questions. Her head was tilted at an almost exact forty-five degree angle, her ears perked forward as she listened intently. She was curious of the greeting the elder rat received. She had seen it before, while she was wandering around the streets.
*Flashback*
A woman was running franticly, stopping every once in a while to ask a person if they had seen her daughter, while she pulled at her red hair as she gave a short description. Each time she got a negative answer. She began to run again, stopping a few feet and turned to another woman on the street.
"Excuse me, have you seen my daughter? She's about this tall," she held her hand out to show the height. "And has red hair. She was wearing a pink coat and yellow hat." Her eyes pleaded for a positive answer.
The woman just looked at her and shook her head, then continued walking.
Meanwhile, a few streets away:
"Mommy..."
The little girl was hopelessly lost. She now stood in an alleyway, scared and cold. Snow fell onto her long red hair, which was partially hidden with a yellow hat. She pulled her pink coat tighter around her, sniffling as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Mommy..."
A voice suddenly came out of the darkness from deeper in the alley. It was quiet and sounded female. "This way..."
The girl sniffled again. "I can't. There's bad people and they might get me."
"Don't worry, no one will hurt you."
She sniffled again. "Promise?"
"I promise."
"Okay..." The little girl sniffled again, then made her way deeper into the alley. Being a child, she was still quite afraid of the dark. That was the main reason she started to panic when she found a wall in front of her. Her breathing became faster and she started to whimper.
"Down here..."
The little girl snapped her head around to see another alleyway that joined with this one, and it led to the street. She quickly ran though the shadows, which was a good thing. She didn't notice the two men lying in the darkest corners, deep gashes running down their arms and torso. The garbage underneath them kept the blood from running out into the streetlight's beam that lit a small amount of the alleyway.
The little girl ran out onto the sidewalk where she stopped and waited for further instructions. She still had no idea where the voice was coming from, but she was out of that dark alley.
"Look to your right..."
The girl did as she was told. Her eyes turned to the right and looked down the sidewalk. There was the woman, still running a few feet then asking about her daughter.
"Mommy?"
The woman seemed to hear the little girl's words, and turned to face forward. Her eyes focused on the little girl standing on the sidewalk.
"Katie?"
"MOMMY!" The little girl took off; tears once again pouring down her cheeks as a relieved smile came onto her features.
"KATIE!" The woman also took off, shedding tears of her own.
The woman fell to her knees as she collected her daughter in her arms, embracing her tightly. A mutant cat watched from the nearby rooftop, her head tipped at a forty-five degree angle in curiosity. She was glad that she had managed to get the girl back to her mother safely, but why did they greet each other in that manner? And why were they crying?
*End Flashback*
~
The group hug broke up and now Master Splinter was seated in his favorite chair, surrounded by his sons. After the guys told their sensei how they retrieved the antidote, Master Splinter turned his attention to the female, who was still positioned close to the sewer exit.
"Come, sit down," He motioned to a nearby couch.
She cautiously made her way, keeping a fair distance from all of the turtles. She sat down on the couch, yet remained tense.
"What is your name?"
She stared blankly for a moment, thinking. 'My name? I can't even remember anything before the past five years. Well, maybe Master calls me by my name. Yeah, I'll just give them that.'
"My name is Kijo."
Master Splinter's whiskers twitched at the familiar word, but made no other movement to show it. "You are responsible for saving my life, Kijo. It is because of you I am able to spend another day alive with my sons. We are thankful and ever in your gratitude. If there is anyway we can help you, we will be happy to oblige."
Kijo thought for a moment. "Well, there is one thing..."
~
The room was usually kept for when April stayed too late and felt too tired to go back home. Otherwise it was just there, right next to Leonardo's room. But it would have an occupant that night, because Kijo asked for a place to stay for the night.
"And you can sleep here," said Leonardo as he showed her to the room.
Kijo thanked him, but looked at him with her head tilted at forty-five degrees.
Leonardo noticed and wondered if Michelangelo had put another "Kick Me" sign on his back again. "What?"
She blinked. "What do you call the greeting you and your brothers gave your master when he recovered?"
It was his turn to blink. Didn't she know a hug when she saw one? "We gave him a hug."
"Why?"
This bothered him. He didn't know why, but it did. "Well, he raised us as far back as any of us can remember. We love him like we would a father. He taught us everything we know about ninjitsu."
Kijo began to think, trying to understand the explanation Leonardo was giving. This was all new to her, so she was having difficulties comprehending it all. "So, you hugged him because you love him?"
The way she asked the question bothered him even more. It sounded like she had never heard of it before. His brow furrowed as he nodded. "Haven't you been hugged before?"
She shook her head. "Not that I can remember."
"Oh. I'll let you rest." Leonardo left the room, gnawing on his lower lip as he sat on the couch beside Master Splinter's chair.
"Something disturbs you, my son," observed the elder sensei.
Leonardo nodded, still gnawing. Splinter waited patently. Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo leaned in so they could hear better.
"According to Kijo, she's never been hugged in her life. And by the way it sounds, she hasn't experienced love of any kind. Like it was completely new to her."
This troubled Master Splinter greatly. Everyone experiences love in one way or another; an embrace from a parent, a pat on the back from a friend, even a playful punch on the arm that he has seen many humans do. Even when he was a rat, Splinter had experienced love. His master Yoshi took very good care of him, and a cute antic or a sign of playfulness from his pet brought a smile to Yoshi's face. There were even times when Yoshi talked to his pet, and this made Splinter feel loved. Now that Yoshi was gone, Splinter still felt love from his sons.
How could have Kijo never experienced love? Did she have no family to return to? Her origin was still a mystery to them. Was she born the way she is? Or was she a mutant like them? If so, how long has she been like that? And who named her? She appeared to have a good heart, so why did they name her "She-devil"? It didn't seem like a good name for anyone. He will have to ask her in the morning. Then these many questions would be answered.
*~*~*~*~*
A small, sad smile came onto Leonardo's face as he remembered. She gave them all a good deal to think about. Master Splinter spent hours trying to decide how to handle the situation.
'She was just so mysterious,' decided Leonardo as he sat down on the roof, the back of his coat sprawling onto the concrete. 'She came out of nowhere, saved Master Splinter, then left us all wondering.'
A slow smile grew as he remembered what happened the next day. He didn't think he was ever that embarrassed before, even though his brothers weren't around.
* * * *
Author's note: This chapter is finally done. This fic is going to take forever. Well, we'll have to take it one chapter at a time anyway. Review with your thoughts and I might finish the next one faster than I did this one.