Still Waters

Raphael was in heaven. He was riding his motorcycle up Highway 87 just outside of New York City. The night was clear, there was a full moon in the sky and, best of all, Pele was sitting behind him with both arms wrapped around him tightly. With a little grin, he gunned the engine; weaving out around two semi trailers to swerve in front of a small, silver SUV. Pele squealed delightfully and hugged him even tighter. Raph's grin widened. He looked into one of his side mirrors, which was adjusted so he could see Pele leaning over his shoulder. She had borrowed Leo's helmet and leathers; Raph wished he could see her face through the full-face mask. As it was, he just caught a glimpse of her blue eyes sparkling through the tinted glass. He zoomed past a rest stop sign, catching a quick peek at what restaurants were featured.
"Hey!" He yelled over his shoulder. "You want some ice cream?"
"Uh, sure!" Pele yelled back, a little puzzled. Where would he be getting ice cream from? Up the road a few miles, Raphael pulled into the rest stop. There was a Baskin Robbin's sign on display. Raph cut the engine in a far corner of the parking lot, underneath a broken light.
"Well, come on; my treat," he said, swinging one leg over the bike.
"Wait!" Pele cried, suddenly tense. "We can't go in there! People will see us!"
"No problem, just leave your helmet on and put your hands in your pockets. Everything else is covered. Trust me, no one will notice." Raphael said, heading for the rest stop building. After a few moments, he head Pele running up behind him.
"I don't like this," she growled sharply. "It's too risky."
"Now you're starting to sound like Leo," Raph growled back, getting irritated.
"What's wrong with that? At least he wouldn't do something this stupid." Pele snapped, still right behind him. Raphael stopped dead in his tracks. Pele actually bumped into his shell.
"I was trying to be nice and get you out of the Lair for a while. You looked like you were going stir crazy," Raph snarled. "And now I'm trying to be nice again and get you some ice cream and this is the thanks I get?!" He turned around to face her. "This ain't Hawaii, Pele. I know what I'm doing." Pele was silent, the full-face helmet she wore giving no clue to her current state of mind. "Come on, Pele, don't you trust me?"
"All right," she sighed. "But I want to go back to the Lair after this."
"Cool, we can do that." Raphael took her arm and led her inside. They spoke to each other in short, monotone sentences after that. Pele ordered green tea ice cream and Raph wanted to punch something. Green tea was Leo's favorite ice cream. This was the first time Raphael had managed to be alone with Pele since he had met her and she was already comparing him to Leo. She probably wished it were Leo with her right now.

They went back out to the bike and ate their ice cream under the broken parking lot light. Then they got back on the bike and headed back into the city. No more tight hugs or laughter or excited squeals from Pele as Raphael weaved through traffic. Damn it! She had only egged on his aggressive driving on the way up, but the thought of walking into an ice cream store had terrified her. Why was Pele so scared of humans?

Leo threw down his book as he heard the roar of Raphael's bike in the garage. Storming towards the noise, he stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Pele stomping away, dressed in his biking leathers. She was lost in the large leather jacket and pants, like a little kid playing dress-up. Quite against his will, seldom-used words like 'cute', 'adorable', and 'lovely' sprang to mind. Despite his anger at Raphael over the situation, he couldn't help throwing Pele a hopeful smile.
"Quit grinning at me," she muttered, continuing on to Mikey's room.
"'Kay," Leo sighed, watching her go. Then he continued his stomping towards the garage.
"You guys were gone for two hours!! You didn't tell anybody where you were going!! I know you take off like that all the time, but why did you have to take Pele with you?!" Leo yelled. Raphael, who had put up his bike and was stripping off his leather jacket, glared at Leonardo.
"We went for a drive and got ice cream. That's all; nothing happened. You can get off of my back now."
"And what if something had happened?! What if Pele got hurt? Mama Kai's going to be here first thing tomorrow morning. I, for one, really don't want to explain to the woman who raised Pele and Makai that we let one of them get hurt because of some dumb stunt!" Leo cried, crossing arms firmly over his chest.
"Would you just DROP IT?!" Raph roared, lunging for his brother.

"Pele? You okay?" Don asked, looking over his shoulder from his computer. Pele sighed and set Leo's helmet down on the sofa.
"Yeah, I'm okay," she muttered, yanking her hair out of its ravaged bun. Pele always wore her hair up, but stuffing it under a helmet had ruined the up do. Donnie watched her shake out her red-gold curls silently, but his fingers flew over the keyboard. One of the Lair's security cameras turned to focus on Pele.
"You were gone with Raph for a long time. He didn't try anything, did he?" Donnie asked.
"No, he behaved himself," Pele said with a slight smile, slowly peeling off Leonardo's leather jacket. Donnie made the camera zoom in on her. Pele walked around just as naked as all of them, but there was just something about a woman taking her clothes off.
"I just got a little spooked. Not used to so many people about, you know?" She continued, folding up the jacket and pulling her feet out of April's old boots.
"Yeah, I can see where that would be a little scary," Don said, trying to stare and make sure the camera angle was right at the same time.
"I mean, you never know what humans are going to do, between the fear and the greed and the drugs," Pele said, undoing the snaps at the waistband and slowly sliding the garment down her pale, shapely legs.
"Yeah, you've gotta have the drugs," Donatello murmured under his breath.
"What?" Pele asked, straightening up and shaking the pants out with a snap.
"Uh," Donnie blinked as he realized he didn't have the faintest idea what he'd just said.
"Pele!! Are you back yet?!" Makai yelled from the kitchen.
"Yes!!" Pele bellowed.
"Come in here and help me plan the meals for tomorrow, then! Casey's getting shark steaks for us and April's going to get the rest of the food, so all we have to do is cook."
"Cool," Pele said, leaving Leo's things where she had taken them off. She headed into the kitchen, leaving Donatello to heave a sigh of relief and start editing his candid camerawork.

Mikey looked over the planned recipes for Mama Kai's visit like an explorer studying maps of lost lands.
"So what's laulau?" He asked. Makai looked up from rummaging through the cabinets. In the two weeks since they had arrived back at the Lair, she had grown stronger and stronger, just like the bond between the two of them.
"Laulau's chicken, butter fish, pork, and spinach boiled in laulau leaves. But I told April that banana leaves would work, too. Do you guys realize the only seasoning you have is salt and pepper?"
"Yeah, we're pretty hopeless. What's lilikoi?"
"It's a cake. I can't decide whether to make it a sheet cake or a layered cake. I prefer the layered, but," Makai paused, moving towards Mikey with an impish smile on her face. "Layered cakes are usually only for weddings." Returning her grin, Mikey pulled her a little closer.
"Weddings, huh? Are we going to have something to tell Mama Kai?" He laced his fingers through hers, marveling at how easily they fit together.
"No!" Makai giggled, blushing. "I'm far too young for that." Mikey didn't answer. He was too busy pulling her forward until she was close enough to be kissed. Mikey let go of her hands to wrap his arms around her, delighting in how small and smooth her shell was. Food and visits forgotten for the moment, the two young turtles embraced, lips brushing together softly before meeting again for a deeper kiss. Pele walked through the door and groaned.
"I'm not helping if I have to watch you two neck," she declared. Makai leveled a dirty look at her sister.
"Well, seems like you're still your usual ice princess self," she declared, leaning against Mikey. "I was hoping that after your date you'd have a better attitude." Pele blushed bright red, her color showing up easily against her white skin.
"It wasn't a date!" she snapped. "We just went out!"
"Oh yeah? What'd you do?" Mikey asked with a teasing grin.
"Nothing happened!" Pele insisted, glaring at the two.
"Did you kiss him?" Makai asked.
"No!! In fact, I'm mad at Raphael right now!"
"There's a shock," Makai muttered.
"Oh, he tried for second base without going to first, right?" Mikey teased, watching Pele grow redder by the second.
"NO!!"
"Then what did you guys do?" Makai asked.
"We got ice cream," Pele admitted.
"AAAAAWWWWwwwwwwwwwwwwwww," Mikey and Maki cooed in the same voice.
"Shut up! I hate you guys!" Pele cried, retreating back into the living room.

"Hi guys! I got all the stuff you asked for," April said, her arms loaded with bags of groceries. She was dribbling a large cardboard box soccer-style in front of her. Pele took one of the bags, peering inside with interest.
"Ooo, did you get the poi?" She asked.
"The poi, the laulau leaves, the lilkoi, the pineapple, and the stuff Makai asked for." April said, tapping the box with her foot. Donatello appeared and took two more of the grocery bags out of her arms. "I even found the CDs by that guy, um," April dug around in one of the bags and pulled out a CD. "Israel Kamaka—Kamaka--we--."
"Kamakawiwo'ole! All right, you got Iz!!" Pele cried, a broad smile gracing her face.
"She got Iz?! Which album?!" Makai asked, coming out of the kitchen. Mikey followed more slowly.
"'Facing Future'," Pele said, handing the CD to her sister.
"Cool; I love this one!" Makai said, grinning. Pele ducked behind Makai and Mikey, rooting through the bag she held until she came up with a white plastic container. She popped the lid off, hoping to sneak a taste, but Makai's head whipped around.
"Damn it, Pele! The poi's for tomorrow!"
"It's mine now!" Pele cried, darting away with the poi. Makai slapped the CD into Mikey's hand and took off after her sister.
"If I have to beat it out of you, I will!" Makai promised. Mikey looked at the CD, then took it over and popped it into the stereo. A smooth, melodious male voice began to sing 'Country Road'. Some of the words had been changed to fit Hawaii.
"Makai, remember when Mama Kai used to sing us this song?!" Pele cried, holding the poi out of her sister's reach.
"I sure do, but I'm still taking your poi away!" Makai said.
"Oh come on! 'Country Roads, take me ho-ome, to the place I belong--," Pele started to sing, her hips moving into a hula.
"'West Makai, mokolai . . . . oh take me home, old country road.'" Makai joined in the song and her sister's dance smoothly. Though they both danced together, Makai's hands darted around her sister to try to grab the poi.
"I heard a voice in the morning comes and calls me,
As though to remind me of my home far away.
Driving down the road, I feel spirits coming to me
From yesterday, yesterdaaa----aaayy!"

Leo and Raph came out of the garage, staring at the scene playing out in front of them. Pele and Makai were both singing and laughing, trying to fight over a plastic food container and dance at the same time.
"You know, that's the first time I've seen Pele smile," Leo admitted. He watched the two girls play fighting with each other for a few moments. Makai, having given up on just snatching the container out of Pele's hands, changed tactics. She started tickling the smaller turtle.
"Bad Pele! That poi's not yours!" she growled fiercely. Pele shrieked with laughter, trying to push her sister away. Leo darted forward and grabbed the poi out of Pele's hands.
"Sorry, Pele, but it's for everybody," he said, turning to hand the container to April. Caught up in the good feelings brought on by Iz's music, poi, and playing with her sister, Pele forgot she hated the world for a minute.
"No, Leo, it's mine!" She yelled, jumping onto his shell and wrapping her legs around his waist. "My poi! Gimme!" Leo yelped in surprise, shocked by Pele's sudden playfulness. Pele was a bit surprised herself. The shell-tackle usually took down Makai within seconds, but Leo was wearing her like an extra scabbard. After a moment of flustered confusion, he reached around and started tickling her with one hand.
"Ah! Ah! Ah! Who's poi is it?!" He teased, grinning evilly.
"Aiie! No fair!! It's muh-mine! My poi!" Pele panted desperately. She began to thrash around, slowly starting to pull Leo over backwards. Leo stretched out the hand holding the poi, desperately trying to keep it level. He gave up the fight and toppled over backwards just as Raphael reached forward and grabbed it out of his hand. Leo and Pele sprawled across the floor, wrestling and laughing. Raphael stared down at them, a less than pleased look on his face. He obviously wasn't happy about the fact that Pele was play-fighting with Leonardo, but there didn't seem to be much he could do about it. At a loss for what else to do, Raph scooped up a big glob of poi on one finger and stuck it in his mouth. Two seconds later he did a full-on spit-take, spraying Leo and Pele with poi shrapnel.
"Aw man, it's gone bad!" He cried.
"It's supposed to taste like that!" Pele and Makai both yelled.
"It's supposed to taste like wallpaper paste?" Raphael asked, making a face. "Yuck!" Pele scowled and sprang to her feet, taking her own taste-test.
"That," she declared, "Is some good poi! It doesn't even need to be dipped in salt water!"
"Salt water!! Disgusting!" Raphael declared, tossing the container towards Pele, causing it to flip up. Pele gasped, stepping backwards to catch her favorite food. Unfortunately, she tripped over Leo's legs and sat down hard, just managing to catch the poi container and hold it under the white, mushy mass as it slopped down. Pele shook poi bits off of her face and scowled up at Raphael.
"You – you – nui, na'au kuhili, 'aku 'aku, ue, hukihuki honu!!!"
"Wow, if I knew what any of that meant, I'd be burned," Raph snorted, heading off to his room. Pele growled to herself.
"What did you call him?" Leo asked. Pele looked over at him and stopped short. For the first time she realized she was sitting in Leonardo's lap. He was leaning back on one hand, but the other was resting on Pele's hip. For the second time today, Pele felt her face turn crimson. Leonardo noticed immediately, letting go of Pele's hip so she could stand up. She started to do so, and then sat back down hard as Makai set both elbows on her sister's shoulders and leaned all her weight on them.
"Let's see . . . . a big, thoughtless, reckless, whining jerk of a turtle," Makai translated, pinning her sister down casually. "I can see the thoughtless jerk part, but why reckless? Anything happen while you guys were out today?"
"Nothing! He's a bad driver, that's all! Let me up!"
"Pele, I've seen you drive," Makai stated flatly.
"What do you mean?! I'm not a bad driver!" Pele protested, still trying to stand.
"Oh yeah, right. It's just good Uncle Tanaka didn't want that pineapple tree. Just like Mama Kai wanted a new truck," Makai said, keeping all her weight on her sister's shoulders.
"It was raining! That could have happened to anybody!"
"Oh sure, a likely – No, Mikey, stay out of there!" Makai pushed off of Pele's shoulders so hard she threw her sister facedown on the floor and practically pounced on the cardboard box April had brought. "You can't see until tomorrow!"
"Can't see what?" Mikey asked petulantly. Makai hefted the box easily and held it away from Michelangelo.
"It's a surprise, sweetie! You'll see tomorrow!"
"You're such a friggin' stereotype," Pele announced peering into the box.
"You shut up! I'm going up to Mikey's room to get – uh- these ready. You go get everything ready in the kitchen. C'mon, we don't have much time to have everything ready tonight."
"All right, all right. Who wants to help me cook?" Pele asked.
"You can cook?" Mikey asked doubtfully.

Somewhere over the Pacific, Kai Pa'iniu stifled a yawn. She hated flying. It figured the girls would have to end up halfway around the damn globe. Still, at least they were safe. After the nasty business with the Navy, she was convinced she'd never see her young charges again. It had been nearly three months since they'd been taken when Pele's phone call out of the blue had jerked Kai straight out of mourning. Her normally reserved daughter had fought to keep from breaking down on the phone, but Kai knew Pele. She was clearly trying to stay strong for Makai, who was yelling for her mother's attention in the background. The two girls had passed the phone back and forth several times, all the while fighting and bickering with each other like they always did. Kai had never been so happy to hear them insulting each other in all her life. She had laughed and cried at the same time, dancing around the house in joy. Michio had thought she'd finally lost her mind in grief. He had to take the phone himself and hear the girls' twin squeals of 'Uncle Tanaka!' before he'd believe her. Kai smiled affectionately at the Japanese man snoring in the seat next to her. Michio Tanaka had been the girls' father figure growing up and there were times when he was more like a husband to her than a close friend. Kai wondered if the girls knew the full extent of their relationship. Makai probably did; she was always the intuitive one. She never said anything, but sometimes her big brown eyes danced with knowing laughter when she looked at the two of them. Pele just as likely didn't know. The 'older sister' of the pair could be amazingly oblivious to what went on between a man and a woman.

That fact made the details of where Makai and Pele were staying all the more interesting. Pele had explained their location and Makai's condition but could get out little more before her little sister had snatched the phone away and started yelling excitedly about boy turtles and a home in the sewers and a sweetheart named Michelangelo and there was something about a giant rat in there, too, but Kai couldn't hear because Pele and Makai were fighting over the phone again. And then a strange male voice had blurted 'Hi, Mama Kai!' and Makai came back on, saying that was her ipo, Mikey. Between the yelling and the fights over the receiver, Kai had managed to understand that they had found four male turtles and were now staying in their home in the sewers of New York City. Makai had apparently latched onto a boyfriend already, but Kai had laughed out loud at the thought of Pele surrounded by four young men in the mood for love. What she wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall in that house. The Hawaiian woman stroked the large photo album in her lap affectionately. It was probably a risk to bring it, but she couldn't resist. Kai opened the album, revealing numerous shots of beaches, tropical sunsets and luaus; nothing out of the ordinary. After looking around to make sure her fellow travelers were asleep or engrossed in something else, Kai peeled up the plastic cover on one page and lifted up one of the pictures. To anyone watching, it would look like she was reading the back of the photo, but Kai had revealed a completely different picture hidden under the first.

Oh, this was her favorite one of Pele. It was a black and white photo of Pele, all of thirteen years old, sitting on a beach looking lost in thought. Dark clouds that threatened rain were rolling in from the ocean, but Pele's blue eyes were lost in a thousand-yard stare. The one just below it was her favorite photo of Makai. Here, she was eight years old, her brown hair up in pigtails. Fake flowers adorned her ponytail holders and she still wore the lei Kai had brought her from somewhere or other. Makai was jumping down off of the low shed behind the house, her pigtails fluttering up behind her. Her big brown eyes laughed at the camera. This was how Kai always envisioned her younger daughter. Makai was always happy and laughing, always optimistic, always ready to believe everything would be okay. She had the innocence of a child, even as her body had grown into a woman's.

Pele was the exact opposite. Even as a very young child, Pele always possessed a seriousness, a knowledge of how things really worked that was so adult it was almost frightening. Michio used to say she was eight going on forty-nine. The only time she ever acted like a kid was when she was trying some stunt guaranteed to get her killed. Like when she jumped the access road on her bike . . . . Kai was sure she had cracked her shell open on that one. Or the time she had tried to ride a shark. Or the superglue incident. Ye gods. Kai could look back at these things and laugh, but there was always a deep worry about Pele. Something was wrong with a girl who was never happier than when she was closest to death.

A movement in the aisle of the plane caught Kai's eye. She barely managed to stifle a gasp.
"Michio!!" She hissed as the man passed, disappearing into the dimly lit plane.
"Uh, what?! Are we in LA?" Michio asked, jumping slightly.
"No, I saw him!"
"Who?"
"Bane!"

"I know what I saw, Michio," Kai growled, stepping off of the plane in New York.
"Yes, dear," Michio said obediently.
"Don't you dare patronize me, Michio," Kai snarled.
"It could have been a coincidence, Kai. After all, there's no law against going to the mainland. You didn't see him on the flight from LA to New York, did you?" Michio said reasonably. Kai turned to answer her companion when something caught her eye. A big, swarthy man was standing at the gate with a handmade sign that said 'Mama Kai'. Someone had drawn a little sea turtle next to the words. Kai grinned.
"I think we found our ride, Michio, dear," she said pointing.

"Hey guys, I found somebody at the airport you might want to meet!" Casey yelled, entering the Lair. There was the thunder of running feet and Makai and Pele pounded up to the two human newcomers.
"Mama Kai!!! Uncle Tanaka!!" The girls squealed, hugging first one, then the other. There was the emotional reunion of close family believed to be lost, so it was a few minutes before Mama Kai and Uncle Tanaka took notice of the other people in the room with them.
"And are these your new . . . . friends?" Uncle Tanaka asked, eyeing the four brothers.
"Oh yes!!" Makai exclaimed, grabbing Mikey's hand and dragging him forward. "Mama Kai, Uncle Tanaka, this is Michelangelo, my ipo." She gave him a tight hug.
"And, these are his brothers, Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello. And their sensei, Master Splinter," Pele continued. The remaining four bowed politely as they were introduced.
"So which one is your ipo, Pele?" Mama Kai asked with a grin. A blush colored Pele's cheeks.
"I don't have an ipo," she growled.
"Good for you, sweetie. Take your time; don't rush into anything," Uncle Tanaka advised, patting her shoulder. He turned to Master Splinter and bowed once again.
"Thank you so much for taking care of our girls. I know they can be a handful and I don't envy you position with four sons in the house!" Splinter bowed his head in acknowledgement.
"I have gained more gray hairs in the last two weeks than I have in the last two years," he admitted. "But I could do no less. It has been interesting seeing Pele's mixture of hapkido and lua." Tanaka grinned proudly.
"That's my Pele!" he declared.

Mikey stepped up to Mama Kai with his hand extended.
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am –OOOF!" His breath went out in a rush as the human woman practically tackled him, squeezing him in a bear hug.
"Don't even think of calling me anything but Mama Kai, milia!" She cried.
"Oh, geez, okay . . ." Mikey groaned. Leo approached them.
"I just want to assure you, Ma'am, that we've been taking real good care of Pele and Makaiii!"
"No 'Ma'am's! Call me Mama Kai, you sweethearts!" She ordered, releasing Mikey to tackle Leo instead. Leonardo's eyes widened as she hugged him tight. Raphael grinned.
"Aw, whatsa matter, Leo? Bear hug from a woman too much for you? Poor bab—Oh my God!" Raph squawked as he was subjected to Mama Kai's 'hello hug'. Leo rubbed his shoulder gingerly.
"She's stronger than she looks," Mikey groaned. Leo nodded his agreement. Donatello was in a full-on cringe when Mama Kai came for him, but none of this seemed to matter to her.
"Such nice, strong young men! I bet the girls were all weak in the knees when they first saw you! So tell me," Mama Kai hooked an arm over Donnie and Raph's shoulders and leaned forward conspiritally. "I know Mika'ele'anelo is with little Makai, but who's Pele sweet on? Come on, one of you has to have turned her head!" There was a moment of stunned silence. Mikey was simply stunned by the Hawaiian butchering of his name; the others were stunned by the sheer obnoxiousness of the question.
"Uh--," Raphael began. Makai bursting into the room, her arms heavy with leis, quickly cut him off.
"Aloha!!!" She cried, putting leis on Master Splinter and Uncle Tanaka first, then moving on to April, Casey, and Pele before heading towards Mama Kai and the boys.
"You're such a stereotype!" Pele sighed, fingering the blue flowers around her neck.
"Go boil your head," Makai suggested cheerfully, hanging leis around each of the boy's necks. She gave each of the guys a kiss on the cheek, except for Mikey, who got a real kiss. Mama Kai grinned at the pair.
"See how sweet they are! Now come on, boys," Kai grabbed a hold of Pele's arm and forcibly hauled the smaller turtle into the group. "I know she's short and a little skinny, but she's a natural blonde with blue eyes!" Before anyone could protest, Mama Kai slapped Pele's rump with her free hand. "And check out these wide, egg bearing hips!"

Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael stared, mouths agape in sheer horror. Uncle Tanaka groaned, rubbing his face with his hand.
"Here we go . . ." he muttered under his breath. Pele's were wide with shock, for a moment unable to comprehend the full extent of the indignity committed against her person. Then her face grew crimson, either with shame or anger or both.
"Mama Kai!!" she snarled, whirling around. Mama Kai easily dodged the sidekick that should have knocked her block off. In fact, she caught Pele's leg in both hands, and then swept the girl's remaining leg out from under her with an ankle hook. Pele crashed gracelessly to the ground.
"You still don't recoil the kicking leg fast enough!" Kai snapped, all playfulness gone. Pele glared up at her mother, murder in her eyes. She spun around on her shell, flipping easily back to her feet. Makai appeared between the two so quickly it was if she materialized there.
"No, no! It's time for a celebration!! Pele, Mama Kai, no fighting!!" Makai declared firmly. Pele relaxed slightly, still eyeing her mother with lethal intent. "Come on; who wants poi?!" She sang.
"Oooh, proper poi? With salt water?" Kai asked, fighting with Pele instantly forgotten.
"That's right! Pele made laulau, too!"
"Well, I can't pass up Pele's laulau. Let's eat!" Kai declared, heading for the kitchen. Pele stopped and exchanged an uncomfortable look with the boys. Everyone blushed and looked at their feet.
"Let's just . . . pretend that didn't happen," Leo muttered, heading for the kitchen.
"I appreciate it," Pele answered.

The feasting went on long into the night, with everyone talking and laughing and reminiscing of times past and childhoods lost. Plates were scraped clean and tea was boiling for tea to go with dessert when Donatello's curiosity got the better of him.
"So . . . Mama Kai, where did the girls come from?" He asked.
"Hawaii," Kai announced cheerfully.
"No, I mean, did you find them in a pool of mutagenic goop? Did you steal them from a research laboratory? Did you bio-engineer them yourself? Where did they come from?" The side conversations died down and everyone turned to look at Kai expectantly.
"Oh, I see what you mean." Kai was silent for a few minutes. She stared thoughtfully at the tabletop, a bemused look on her face until Makai set a steaming hot cup of tea in front of her. Kai looked up at her daughter and smiled.
"My girls came from the spirits."
"Uh . . . . come again?" Donnie asked.
"It's a long story, but therein lies a tale worth the telling," Kai began, sipping her tea.

"You see, I lost my family when I was very young. I grew up a very depressed young woman. When I was still a teenager, I fell in love with a young man named Jonathon. We were married the day I turned eighteen. For two years lived together in wedded bliss. We were just starting to talk about children when tragedy struck. A hurricane was heading towards the island. The actual storm hadn't hit yet, but we were getting torrential rain. He was driving home when his car went out of control on the road. He went over the rail. He was killed instantly. I was in shock for the first few days. Jonathon's death just started to sink in when the hurricane struck. It was a horrendous storm; the worst in living memory. Everyone was evacuated to the leeward side of the island. Everyone but me. I had decided that if Jonathon was dead, I wanted to die, too. He was the only family I ever had and I couldn't bear to continue without him. I refused to leave the house where I had lived with him. I expected the storm to tear it apart around my ears, but it was miraculously untouched." Kai paused to sip her tea.

"When the eye of the storm came, I got impatient and left the house to walk down to the beach. I remember . . . . everything was so deathly still. No birds, no animals, no people. As I headed down to the beach, I started to hear noises. At first I thought it was an injured bird, but as I got closer to the sea, I could tell it was a small child crying. Well, I may have been suicidal, but I didn't think a toddler had to pay for my lack of will to live. I followed the sounds right down to the edge of the water. And that's where I found Makai." Mama Kai wrapped one arm around her youngest daughter and squeezed her tight.

"The poor little thing was so scared. She only looked to be about two years old. She was crying and screaming and she kept calling something out over and over. I think she was calling for her mother. She didn't see me until I was practically on top of her. When she finally noticed me, she just stared up at me for a second. I don't think she'd ever seen a human being before. But then she started to cry again and reached up her hands to be picked up. So I did. I started to take her back to my house, but she started to point and yell something at me. So I took her in the direction she pointed to. We went around a lot of crap that had been washed up by the hurricane, but finally we came to the edge of a lava flow. The lava was still hot, but almost solid from the rain and wind and water. The wind was starting to pick up again and we didn't have much time before we were out of the eye. That's when I saw Pele. She was crouched down by the lava flow, poking at it with her fingers." Kai rolled her eyes in exasperation. "She didn't seem scared like Makai was. She was just taking it all in stride. The storm was really picking up by then, so I just grabbed her by the hand and dragged her back to my house. I got them into the bathroom, washed them and dried them off, made them something to eat and then just sat and watched while they slept. The spirits had heard my heart crying out for a family and they answered with my girls."
"Awww, that's sweet," Mikey said.
"Doesn't really answer my question, though," Donnie muttered under his breath. Master Splinter nudged him under the table.
"I just can't wait to get back home," Pele said, smiling. Mama Kai and Uncle Tanaka both looked at her in surprise.
"You're not – coming back with us, are you?" Kai asked.
"I – I was hoping to," Pele said slowly. "I don't want to stay here."
"Pele, it's far too dangerous in Hawaii!" Tanaka cried. "The soldiers still come and search the house every few weeks!"
"I even saw Bane on the flight to the mainland!" Kai added. "You two are much safer here. No one knows you here and you have four big, strong men to protect you." Pele stared at her guardians for a moment, tense look on her face. Then she put her head in her hands, rubbing her face.
"I can't stay here," she growled.
"Pele, it's not that bad!" Makai said.
"How can you say that?!" Pele snapped, jumping to her feet. Her blue eyes were bright with unshed tears. "I haven't seen the sun in almost a month! I've forgotten what grass feels like under my feet! We live in a sewer for God's sake! I don't know what's worse; the smell or the fact that I've gotten used to it! I can't stay here!" Pele slammed her palms down on the table and rushed out of the room.

Pele sat sulking in the dojo. No one had come after her, thank god. At least the guys knew her well enough to steer clear of her when she was in a mood. Gods, how could they stay here any longer? Pele would have killed to go home and done grievous bodily harm for a swim in a clear, tropical ocean. She didn't know how much longer she could stand to live in this dank, smelly hole. She heard the others talking and moving around the rest of the Lair. Makai's mellow voice came close to the dojo once, but then backed off. Mikey's hyena laugh echoed through the Lair followed a little later by Raphael and Leonardo's voices raised in argument. All in all, Pele didn't know how much time had passed before the dojo door slid open. Pele whirled. Leo stood in the doorway.
"Leave me alone!" she snapped, hunching back down.
"Let's go." Leo said simply, gesturing towards the Lair entrance.
"What?"
"Let's go."
"Go where?" Pele asked suspiciously, standing.
"You want to see the sun, don't you? To feel grass under your feet? Come on; I'll take you," Leo said, watching to make sure no one else was around.
"I thought you hated it when someone went topside during the daytime," Pele countered. Besides, they were in New York City. Where in this concrete jungle were they going to find a safe place to sun and grass to walk on?
"It's a big risk; I hate doing it. But if it's what you want, I'll take you," Leo's voice remained soft and calm. Pele felt something flip-flop inside of her. He hated it so much, but he'd take her if that were what she wanted?
". . . . . . Okay. Where are we going?"

Makai peered around the corner, watching as Leo and Pele left the Lair together.
"I told you she'd take the bait. Now we can get to work!"
"My baby's so smart!" Mikey declared with a grin.

Pele flinched from the bright sunlight as she and Leo left the storm drain. It had been so long since she had been out during the day, for a moment all she could do was shield her eyes.
"Come on, we can't stay here long!" Leo hissed, grabbing her hand and dragging her into the underbrush. Pele looked around in wonder at the forest surrounding her.
"Where . . . . is this Central Park?" Pele asked.
"Yeah," Leo said, slowing down. He started along a path, still watching for any signs of humans. "They left certain parts of it pretty wild. Raph likes to come here at night. When you guys took off yesterday, I thought he'd come here."
"You came looking for us?" Pele asked.
"Raphael takes off all the time. He's going to get himself killed one of these days. But I was really worried about you; you don't know your way around the city and if the two of you had run into the Foot--," Leo cut himself off sharply. He stopped in a small clearing barely ten feet wide. A gap in the trees allowed sunlight to spill through and light up a small patch of grass. "We can stay here for a while."

Pele walked out into the light and tilted her face upwards. Even though her eyes were closed, the kiss of sunlight on her skin was delicious. With a grin, Pele slowly toppled over backwards to sprawl across the grass. The sea turtle felt her cares start to melt away under the warming rays. A reptile that couldn't sunbathe, even a mutant reptile, was an unhappy creature indeed. Even humans found the urge to sun themselves addictive. Something about the vitamin D their bodies produced when in sunlight . . . . Makai could explain it better. Pele remained sprawled out, letting the sunlight soak through her. She felt the chill that always seemed to be in her hands and feet slowly disappearing. After a time, she rolled over to soak up some heat in her shell and tail. It was then that she noticed Leo was still standing by the trailhead. Though he was obviously guarding the small clearing, he was looking over at her with a pleased expression on his face.
"Why are you still standing there? Why don't you come lay out me?" Pele asked. Leo blinked, a slight blush coming to his cheeks.
"No, I should keep a lookout," he protested.
"We'll hear anyone coming before we see them. Come on," Pele patted the ground next to her. After a moment's hesitation, Leo went and laid stiffly on the ground next to Pele. Satisfied, the female turtle closed her eyes with a soft sigh. Leonardo couldn't relax. It was a big risk to be out in the open like this . . . . but it had made Pele happy. He felt good about that. Of course, she was more a creature of daylight than himself. With her white skin and red-gold spots; she was like having a captive sunbeam in the Lair. The only downside was that she was so miserable there. Raphael had been pissed after her little outburst at the table. He had yelled and ranted that she was ungrateful and spiteful and a few less polite adjectives. Leo had felt a little insulted at first, but then he had taken a look at the pictures Mama Kai had brought. Pele grew up in a tropical paradise, free to sun and swim to her heart's content. Now she had been taken away from that place and locked in a dark, stinking hole in the ground.
"'Now I know why the caged bird dies, for, like them, I have touched the sky.'" Leo murmured.
"What?" Pele asked. Leonardo looked over at her. The sun gleamed off of her skin and hair, almost adding a halo effect to her coloring. Her eyes were opened only slightly, the slits of vibrant blue jumping out of all that white, red and gold. For a minute, all he could do was stare.
"Did you say something, Leo?"
"I –I just-- . . . . . I love the way you say my name." Pele blushed slightly.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, propping her chin up on one hand.
"Doing what?"
"Why are you taking me out here to sunbathe when you hate going topside, you hate going out in daylight, and you hate all the risks that go along with it? I can't figure out why you'd do all that for me," Pele said.
"Well, I, um, I like you," Leo admitted. Maybe the sun was getting to him, too.
"You like me?" Pele echoed.
"I . . . . I really like you," Leo said, placing the necessary stress where it needed to be.
"But why?! I'm not a particularly likeable person," Pele admitted. "I'm anti-social, I have a bad temper, and I don't have patience for anyone or anything."
"You aren't that bad!" Leo protested, starting to relax under the soothing sunlight. "I mean, you put up a good front, but I think, underneath it all, you're really just . . . . very sad." Pele blinked. "I hate to see you so sad all the time. I guess I can understand; I mean, if I used to live in Hawaii and then got stuck in a New York City sewer with four teenaged brothers and a rat, I'd be pretty upset, too." There was a pregnant silence as Pele studied the grass blades under her nose.
"There's more to it than that. I've always been like this. Did you ever—Do you believe in premonition?"
"What do you mean?" Leo asked.
"When I was growing up, as far back as I can remember, I always knew that there was some great betrayal coming down the pike. I always had the feeling that something bad was going to happen to me. I just . . . . always knew. I didn't know what it was going to be, but I knew it was coming. Now . . . . . . now I guess I'm just trying to deal with it."
"'Great betrayal'?" Leo echoed. "What do you mean?" Pele was silent for a few minutes more, intent on picking the grass blades apart with her fingers.
"Are you afraid of humans?" she finally asked. Leo blinked. It was a big risk to be seen by humans, or interact with humans, but to actually be afraid of them? Aside from the thug stomping he and his brothers did on their nightly patrol, April and Casey were the only human contact he had. He thought about the stomach-churning feeling he got every time someone screamed in terror at the very sight of them.
"A little, I guess," he admitted. "I'm afraid of being discovered, of what they might do to us. So yeah, I guess I am afraid of humans."
"I grew up with them," Pele blurted.
"Mama Kai and Mr. Tanaka? Yeah, I met them both . . ." Leo said, a bit confused.
"Not just them. A whole town. There was a tiny little town called Naele, on the island of Kauai. It was only about 200 people. The tourists never went there. Mama Kai thought it would be safe there. Everybody knew about us; we could walk down the street just like regular people." Pele imparted all of this in a broken, quiet whisper.
"If you had a whole village of people who accepted you then why is it too dangerous for you to even be in the state?" Leo asked. Again Pele waited a few minutes before answering.
"Do you ever look at someone and just know they're going to hurt you? Just – just know without a doubt that it's going to end badly? There was a man from the village named Bane Pa'ahana. He was about eight years older than us. He always treated us like his little sisters; he kept the other kids from picking on us, brought us little presents from the outside world, or just sat and listened to every detail from our boring little lives. He was always there. But I always just had this feeling in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't place it; it was just a feeling I had that I shouldn't let my guard down. I felt that way around pretty much everybody except Makai, Mama Kai and Uncle Tanaka, but it was really strong around Bane. When I told Makai and Mama Kai about it, they said I was just being paranoid." Pele pushed herself up to sit back on her feet, still staring at the ground. Leo sat up with her, leaning back on one hand while he listened to her story.

"Mama Kai sat me down and we had this long talk about my trust issues and how I needed to just let go. See, I always had this feeling about Bane, but at the same time, I kind of had a crush on him. He was fairly attractive and he was always nice to me . . . . I guess it was just natural. Mama Kai said it was just me being afraid of rejection and not knowing how to deal with it. So, I tried to ignore my instincts. One day Bane came from Oahu and said he needed to speak with me in private. We went out to one of the pineapple fields and he said . . . . he said . . . ." Tears sparkled Pele's eyes. "I can't believe I was so stupid!!" she wailed, burying her face in her hands.
"What?! Pele, please tell me!" Leo cried, placing one hand on her shoulder.
"He- he said he'd fallen in love with me! He wanted me to sneak away with him to his boat so we could be alone together. And I believed him!! I hadn't more than set foot on that bastard's boat than he hit me over the head and tied me up. He started to sail over to Pearl Harbor to deliver me to the government, but I came to when I was still on board. I rolled overboard even though I was still tied up. I swam back to Naele to warn Makai, but Bane had beaten me to it. He went to the town square and offered anyone who helped him catch us fifty thousand dollars, courtesy of the U.S. Navy. That much money erases a lot of memories. I already knew his game, but I couldn't get back home soon enough. Half the town already had Makai surrounded. All I could do was follow them and wait for my chance to free her. I followed that ship across the Pacific by hanging on the anchor chain. They kept moving her around; I couldn't free her at all; I only got the chance the night we met." Pele trailed off, still hiding her face in her hands. "I was so stupid . . . ." she whimpered.
"No, no, Pele, you're not stupid at all. You just have great instincts. Don't ever ignore them again." Without knowing whether or not the following would get him punched in the kidneys, Leo hugged Pele. "You've got some very good reasons to be sad, Pele. I just wish you weren't. I hate seeing you so sad." Pele choked, startled. Then she hesitantly put her arms around Leonardo. After a moment or two she started to cry in earnest.
"They were our friends! And they betrayed us!"
"I know, I know. Ssshhh, it's okay now," Leo murmured in what he hoped was a soothing manner. "It's all right now, Pele. I won't let anybody else hurt you. It's okay."

Several hours later, the pair returned to a silent Lair.
"Where is everybody?" Pele wondered out loud.
"I think we should go upstairs," Leo said, leading the way to where the boys' bedrooms were.
"And why do you think that?" Pele asked suspiciously. Leo unsuccessfully tried to hide a smile.
"Maybe it's instinct," he allowed, leading her past the bedrooms and towards some of the unfinished chambers at the end of the row.
"You're up to something!" She declared.
"Uh huh," Leo said with a grin, pushing open the door to the first storeroom.
"SURPRISE!!!!" Makai, Donnie, Mikey, Raph, Kai, Michio, Casey, and April all yelled, jumping out from around various items of furniture. Pele took a look around and felt her jaw drop. The storeroom had been cleaned out and furnished as a bedroom, only instead of where the boys had bare brick, a panoramic view of Hawaiian coastline covered the walls. The ceiling was painted sky blue with white fluffy clouds here and there and the support columns were painted to look like palm trees.
"Like your new bedroom, Pele?" Mikey asked with a big grin. "Since you couldn't go back to Hawaii, we thought we could bring a little bit of Hawaii here!"
"Yeah! You've got the view, the water," Makai gestured to a fish tank in the corner. The red and white goldfish inside wiggled helpfully. The filter for the tank was one of the waterfall variety, adding the sound of falling water to the room. "And . . . the sun . . . how's that sunlamp coming, Donnie?"
"I'm working on it!" Don snapped, sucking at one of his fingers as an errant electrical current jolted him.
"Well, we did the best we could, given the time," April said, shrugging. "We told Leo keep you out as long as he could, but it wasn't like we had a whole weekend like 'Changing Rooms'." Raphael didn't say anything. He was focused on one simple fact. Leonardo and Pele were holding hands.
"Well?! Say something!" Mama Kai demanded, tackling Pele and giving her a big bear hug.
"Mahalo!" Pele gasped as her breath was squeezed out of her.
"You're welcome, tita!" Makai said, joining in the group tackle. Swaying slightly, Kai started to sing an old song to her daughters. Pele and Makai quickly joined in.

"I kêia pô, eia au me oe
Kêia pô, ua hoi mai au
He loa ka helena ma ke ala hele
E huli i wahi ma kêia ao
Maopopo au, ua ike hoI
Ka home i loko o kuu puuwai
Ua hoi mai au, ke ike nei au
Aole au e auana hou
Ke maopopo he Hawaii au
"

"Tonight I'll be with you
Tonight I'll be home
It's been so long traveling on the road
Trying to find a place in the world
Now I know, now I see
My home is in my heart
I'll be home, I know now
I'll never roam again
As long as I remember I'm Hawaiian."