Chapter 8: Moving On With Life.
4 years, 2 months since captivity. London, England.
A couple of months after the turtles had been first spotted by Bonesteel in London, the airport security became more relaxed and arrogant due to the lack of activity. However, during the weeks the reptiles were planning to leave the country, Bonesteel managed to spot them again whilst on a food raid, hence warning the airports to be on the lookout. And so began the never ending cycle of being seen. There were rarely months where either a citizen or Bonesteel himself didn't sight them. And every time they were spotted, the airport security was heightened from its relaxed state. There was no safe escape; they were continually being hunted. It didn't help when Bonesteel decided to buy a warehouse property so that he could stay in the country for longer periods of time. However Bonesteel wasn't the only one to move.
Sarah applied and was granted a working visa in London a year after she had first visited. With the help of her relatives, she managed to find a small apartment to rent in the city. Although she loved learning about animal behaviours at the university in New York, her past crime affected her choices, so she started working in the completely unrelated field of retail as a shop assistant.
Leonardo sleepily opened his eyes after having a decent night's sleep. He didn't move from underneath the blanket, wanting to listen to the comforting silence of the sewers. Leo sighed quietly to himself and surveyed the haphazard lair's objects that surrounded him, most of them small and easy to pack in a short amount of time due to their hunted lifestyle. Quite contented and not wanting to get up as of yet, Leo turned his head to watch Venus sleeping humbly next to him.
Over the years, Leonardo and Venus' affection for each other had only grown stronger. They decided to take the relationship slowly, mainly because Venus felt regretful that she hadn't done the same with Raphael. Although it would never be truly official, the two turtles considered themselves to be married; a relationship where they're stuck with each other everyday, and have a sex life only slightly better than a panda because of an intrusive and curious three year old… not to mention Mike as well.
Thinking of his brother, Leonardo quickly looked around the lair only to be unsuccessful in finding him. In an instant he knew that the turtle had spent the night at Sarah's place again. It was rather ordinary these days for him to be away. Leo knew that Michelangelo had a small crush on the human female, but then again he knew that he still had a small crush on Venus and had an infatuation with April when she was still alive. He flirted a lot with Sarah, but it was nothing more, most likely because Mike didn't know how to further the relationship past that, or it might have been that he didn't want to.
But right now, Sarah played the role that April once did; helping them get supplies and lending a hand whenever they were in trouble, yet they had be careful that she wasn't caught being connected to them. She had similarities with Donatello, which was another reason why Mike spent so much time with her; to fill the void of his long lost brother. That, and also the fact that he didn't want to disturb Leo and Venus' privacy, although Raphael did that most of the time anyway.
Returning his gaze to the sleeping form of Venus, a small smile appeared across his face. He wriggled in closer, wanting to give her a morning's kiss, but something blocked his path. Curious he slightly slid down the blanket area situated between him and Venus. Raph was sleeping peacefully in-between.
He was now three, nearly four years of age and his height was currently equaled to Leo's mid-thigh. Like Sarah had speculated a long time ago, his verbal development took longer than his physical progress, and he started talking with the same growth rate of a human; his first word being Mi'ey, short for Mikey. Right now he was in the middle of a lull in the development process.
A shift of movement caught his attention. Venus was awake and was currently staring at her son as well. "He had nightmares again," she whispered to Leo, explaining why she had allowed the little turtle to sleep where he was. Leonardo nodded gently in response.
"Was it about Bonesteel again?" he asked with a whisper.
"I think so," she quietly answered. Leo sighed at stared at the boy, knowing that it was unhealthy for him to be raised in such a fearful environment. All of a sudden, the child roused from his sleep. He gave a big yawn before rubbing his eyes with a small fist.
"How's my little man this morning?" Leo asked with an encouraging smile.
"Sleepy," Raph responded, still rubbing his tired eyes.
"Did you have a bad dream last night?" Leo asked carefully with an emotive tone. Raphael only nodded as an answer while his lips formed a pout. "Would you like to tell Daddy and Mummy about it?" Leo offered with an open heart. Keeping his pouting expression, Raphael slowly shook his head from side to side. "Okay," Leo whispered, knowing that he might want to talk about it another time.
All of a sudden, Raph's face brightened when he saw Mike walk in through the lair's low lying entrance pipe. The little turtle jumped to his feet and ran over, giving the adult a cheeky kick in the shin to grab his attention. "Ow!" Mike yelped. Even though he was small, his kicks and punches were bony, and usually ended up poking a soft part of a muscle that bigger fists and feet couldn't achieve due to a larger surface area. Michelangelo playfully gave the boisterous child a glare. Raphael grinned. He knew what was going to happen next.
With a playful grin, Mike wrestled Raphael to the ground, being careful at the same time that he wasn't hurting the child. Their fingers interlocked and Raph grunted in effort, enjoying the rough and tumble. Getting up out of the blankets that formed their bed, Leo and Venus both smiled and shook their heads at the sight, slowly heading towards some stored food for breakfast in the meantime. Raphael playfully growled and tried to gain some leverage by pushing his small feet against Mike's plastron, yet when Michelangelo cheekily smiled, Raphael knew that he had lost.
A great farting noise traveled through the lair. Munching on some bread, Leo and Venus tried their best to ignore the sound as it was repeated a number of times. Raph giggled as Mike pressed his lips again against the little turtle's plastron, blowing out from his puffy cheeks to create another colossal rippled fart noise. Raphael laughed hard from both the hilarious sound and the tickling vibrations he felt through his shell.
When he had finished, Mike picked the child up and gently placed Raph back on his feet. "So what have you been up to?" Mike asked, stooping down to Raph's eye level. The child grinned and showed off a few basic punches and kicks. Even though his balance and coordination wasn't perfect, it was still more advanced than any other kid his age. Mike gasped for encouragement even though he wasn't surprised. "Did Daddy teach you those yesterday?" he asked rhetorically, referring to Leonardo even though they all knew who the real father was. With Venus and Leo 'married', it made sense to the family for Raph to call him Dad until he was old enough to know the truth. Raphael nodded happily in response.
"Come and have something to eat sweetie," Venus beckoned her son. Raphael obeyed and bounded over to his parent. Mike stayed where he was. "Aren't you eating?" Venus asked.
"I had breakfast at Sarah's," he replied. It was then when he exited the lair and returned a few seconds later with a children's book in his hand. As he munched on the crusts of his bread, his facial expression brightened for the second time that day.
"I 'ead 'addy?" Raph asked innocently as he chewed, pointing to the new book.
Leo nodded gently before adding, "Only if you remember to not talk with food in your mouth". The boy closed his lips immediately. Reading was still the number one form of entertainment, so naturally Raphael was eager to be included; striving to be like an adult.
Leo propped Raph up on his lap once both of them had had enough to eat. Leo opened the alphabet book, carefully balancing it on both of their thighs so the little turtle could see. "A is for a… app-" Raph started.
"App…" Leo encouraged, mouthing the last syllable of the word. Raph's eyes furrowed as he focused on the letters. Not only was it helping his literacy, but also his concentration span.
"App… Apple?" Raph said. Leo nodded and turned the page. "B is for b- ball. C is for ca… cat," Raphael continued, gradually increasing his reading speed.
"He's so smart," Venus admired like any other parent would. Mike smiled.
"You know, they say that intelligence skips a generation," he said cheekily.
"And what are you implying?" Venus asked rhetorically with a murderous smirk firmly planted on her face. She knew very well that Mike had just suggested that both of boy's parents were stupid. Mike recoiled from her gaze.
"Hehe, nothing," he giggled innocently, raising his hands as if he was expecting Venus to hit him. A second passed and nothing happened. Mike relaxed his stance and Venus hit him anyway for the fun of it. The male childishly pouted and rubbed his sore upper arm. "So have you asked Leo yet?" Mike asked quietly after watching Raphael get through another couple of pages.
"No. I haven't been able to get around to it," Venus admitted sadly, lowering her voice so Leo wouldn't hear.
"I can mind Raph for a while. Take him out of the lair for thirty minutes," Mike offered.
"Yeah, that'll be great. Even though Leo won't agree anyway," Venus feared.
"Aw, you never know," Mike said, trying his best to sound positive.
"R is for rab… rab… rabbit, and, and Raphael," Raph added, looking up at Leo to gain his encouragement.
Leonardo smiled. "That's right," he approved. He waited for Raphael to continue onto the next letter, but he never did. Leo looked at the boy's solemn expression, as though he had just been hit with a dose of depression. "What's wrong?" Leo asked, becoming concerned. Noticing that the reading had stopped, Venus and Mike moved in closer.
"Will, will Bonesteel get us?" Raphael asked, slightly shivering from the thought. Leo's eyes softened. He closed the book and brought the little turtle into a hug.
"Of course he won't. Is that what you dreamt last night?" Leo inquired. Raph nodded slowly.
"You, Mummy and, and Mikey weren't here, 'cause, 'cause Bonesteel took you and, and Mummy, 'cause you weren't here," the child tried his best to explain his dream, saying the name of the hunter with a mixture of fear and anger. Leonardo sighed. He knew what brought about these nightmares. Ever since Raph was born, they had been running in fear, hiding for their lives. Bonesteel was a name that was mentioned frequently, around Raphael, and the human was to blame for most of the mad panics that occurred every couple of weeks. None of them could blame Raph for being scared of Bonesteel, especially when the adults that raised him were frightened by the person themselves.
Leonardo gave the child a sad smile. "We will never leave you behind. And Bonesteel will never hurt us because we have each other, and we are ninja. One day you'll be a ninja as well," Leo tried his best to comfort him. He knew that some things he had said weren't totally true, but he needed to calm the child's fears as best he could.
"But, but…" Raphael wanted to say something, be he didn't know how. The three adults listened and waited intently. "But nimjas don't get scared, 'cause they're nimjas and they're strong. So, so I can't be a nimja 'cause nimjas don't get scared," Raph said, still pronouncing the 'm' sound instead of 'n' no matter how many times Leo and Venus had tried to correct it. The three adult turtles could only smile at his roundabout sentence structure.
"Raphael… it's okay to be scared sometimes. I get scared. Your Mum gets scared and so does Uncle Mikey," Leo started to explain.
"Really?" Raph asked. Leo nodded.
"Everyone's afraid of something. Just because we're ninja doesn't mean that we're not scared of anything. Sometimes we just pretend that we're not scared, but inside we really are. See, you're only young, but when you grow up, you'll understand that some things aren't as scary as they seem, and that sometimes you can control your fear," Leo explained further. Mike nodded as support. Venus and Leo exchanged a glance, and after a moment the female turtle went to retrieve an object. Raphael looked at his mother curiously when she returned with something behind her back, out of sight. A gentle smile was swept across her face.
Leo returned his gaze towards the small boy on his lap. "We were going to give this to you on your birthday, but we thought that we might as well give it to you now," Leo started. From behind her back, Venus showed the red piece of material she had been hiding. She walked forward, and with a little help from Leo, transformed the red cloth into a bandanna. A large grin had emerged on Raph's face, yet it dropped when he felt how short his bandanna tails were.
"It's short," he remarked, still feeling the knot on the back of his head.
"Well, you'll get a longer one when you get stronger as a ninja. It's kind of like a family tradition," Leo explained with a smile.
"What's trad… tradishon?" Raphael asked.
"Um… Uh… how do I explain tradition to a three year old?" Leo wondered out loud. Mike almost laughed at his speechless expression.
"Raph, tradition is sort of like a rule, but it's a special type of rule because it only exists in our family. See in other clans, they use different coloured belts to show how good you are at fighting. So that's their tradition. Just like how our tradition is with the length of the bandannas," Mike explained with a smile to help Leo out. Raphael gave him a look to show that he sort of understood. His large smile soon returned.
"So I can be a nimja now?" the child asked, touching his bandanna with pride and astonishment.
"You bet!" Mike exclaimed. The orange clad turtle looked over at Venus and remembered something. "Hey Raph. Wanna have a walk around the sewers?" Mike offered. The boy thought about it. "I'll race ya," Mike extended his invitation, changing his stance so he looked like he would take off at any moment. A competitive look flashed across Raph's eyes. The little turtle bounced off Leo's lap and chased after the orange wearing turtle in an instant. Heavy footsteps were heard getting further and further away, until it was nearly completely silent back in the lair.
"Poor kid. He'll be worn out by noon," Leo said with a smirk, surprised with how fast the two had vacated the area. He knew Raphael would be alright out in the sewers, as long as Mike kept a watchful eye on him and kept quiet, which he was sure he would.
It was then when Leonardo noticed Venus' expression, and immediately he knew that she had something important on her mind. He didn't know what to say, so he simply waited till Venus had decided the words she was about to vocalise. Leo could tell that she was nervous. "Leo…" she started before taking in another breath. "…I want to have another child."
A rather lengthy silence followed. It was eventually broken with a sigh from Leo. "Venus… You know we can't. The baby… It'll just give away our position," Leo said calmly. "We'll be hunted…" he added.
"Like we aren't now?" Venus rebutted. Silence once again filled the lair until Leonardo figured out what to say next.
"Now that Raphael has grown up a fair bit, I was hoping that we could escape from England; search for Donatello," Leo explained softly.
"Leo… let's face it. We have tried for months, years even. Child or not, we'll still be chased and we'll still be stuck here," Venus laid out the facts. "I want to move on with my life," Venus said sadly. "I too miss Donatello… but he knows from the media that we're in Britain. Who's to say that he isn't here now looking for us?" Venus reasoned.
Leonardo shook his head. "If he's followed the media like you've said, then he'll also know the tight security around the airports… I hope you're wrong Venus, I really do. If he comes here, then he'll never make it off the plane without being caught. I just hope he's smart enough to know that," Leo wished. The silence returned.
"…Leo, Raphael needs someone his own age. I don't want him to grow up like I did as an only child. Mike can't be his playmate forever. I understand that you'd like to wait longer, until we're no longer under threat… but that could take years, and then it'll be too late for Raph to grow up with another child," Venus pleaded her case. Leo emitted another sigh.
"You've seen how Raph is being raised though. There's rarely a night where he won't have a nightmare… I don't want to put another child through this," Leo said with remorse.
"But they will have each other. Raph will help. He'll know what the other is going through… If we decide to have one now, then Raphael will be four when the egg hatches… Leo, I just… I just want to start again. Move on… Don't you want to have your own child? You've done wonders on raising Raph, but I can't help but feel sorry because… one day you might lose him to the truth… You deserve to be a true father…" Venus explained with compassion. She sat down beside him and took his hand in hers for comfort and persuasion.
Leonardo thought about everything Venus had said. He knew what she meant. His heart ached deep inside knowing that Raphael wasn't his own son, and that one day all of his love and compassion could go to waste through the hatred of being lied to about his origins. Leonardo looked at Venus and admired her beauty through his loving and trusting eyes. He sighed once again. So much responsibility lay behind this decision.
Finally he spoke. "The pregnancy, birth, the long nights? You're willing to go through that again?" He asked.
Venus had a gentle smile on her lips. "I am for you," she answered truthfully. Leo smiled, heart twirling with the reassurance of how much she did actually love him. He gently squeezed her hand, slowly beginning to see Venus' point of view.
"So… how long is Mike out for?" Leo asked with a sly, raised eye ridge.
"For another twenty minutes at least," Venus informed him with a secretive smile. Leonardo produced the facial expression that he had reserved for only her. She giggled before giving him a sweet kiss on the lips, knowing exactly what he was thinking of doing in the next couple of minutes.