Disclaimer: See Previous chapters.
Chapter 8
A troubled twin
Faith sat with her legs hanging loosely over the side of her bed, digging under her nails on her left hand with the nails on her right. Charity had told her of how she came to be in the home of the turtles and how they had continued her treatment from that of the hospital. Faith had listened intently to her sister as she rambled on about her new friends. Faith's enemies.
Faith's mind was in turmoil. Her father considered them enemies and yet her sister considered them friends, who should she believe?
Faith glanced up at the door as it opened, Charity came in carrying a cup of something warm, as she approached she held out the cup for Faith to take and smiled comfortingly at her. Faith took the cup and eyed the contents curiously as Charity looked on.
Charity frowned and took the cup back from Faith, she moved it to her lips and drank a small amount to prove to Faith that it was safe to drink but Faith merely frowned, her sister didn't have to prove anything to her. If there was one thing in life that was a certainty, it was Charity, she had always been there for Faith and she knew deep down inside that Charity would never do anything to hurt her. The fact that her sister had allied herself with Masuyo's enemies didn't change anything.
"You don't have to do that" Faith said softly and took the cup from Charity, she brought it to her lips and drank, the warm fluid ridding her of the dryness in her throat.
"Yeah, I do. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable here Faith, I know that you must be feeling very confused right now and I want to make things as easy as possible for you" Charity replied in the same soft tone, their voices were very similar, except that Charity's was slightly deeper and Faith's was still a little hoarse.
Faith finished the tea greedily, she was thirsty and the drink was a relief, she detected herbs within the tea, confirming that this was medicinal.
"You can't make it easy Chaz, this whole situation is screwed up and I don't know what to think anymore. I know that you hate our father…" Faith replied quickly but Charity cut her off.
"He's not our father Faith, can't you see what he's done? He's a murderer! He killed Mom and he took us from a life that we loved! Tell me that our life wasn't a good one before he came into our lives, tell me that you don't miss the freedom we had!" Charity spat, she didn't mean to raise her voice at Faith but it irritated her that her sister could be so blind.
Faith stiffened and stood quickly to face Charity, "I hardly remember what life was like before Dad! How can you expect me to change my feelings and opinions of the last ten years when that's practically all I know?" Faith yelled. Charity stood stunned, she had never told Faith before about how their mother died and here Faith stood completely unfazed about the revelation.
"You… you know about Mom, don't you?" Charity whispered, her eyes wide with shock.
Faith stood undeterred, "Yes! Yes, I know about Mom. Dad told me. What did you expect Chaz? That he would lie to me? He's never lied to me. He told me that he killed her"
Charity's shock was short lived, she stepped closer to Faith and glared at her, "Did he also tell you that he made me watch? That as she laid there bleeding to death he simply walked out of the room after telling me that if I didn't behave that he wouldn't hesitate to do the same to me?"
Faith's eyes went wide and she stepped back slightly, for a moment she stood still then slowly lowered her head and closed her eyes, "No, he didn't" she whispered.
"We were eight years old Faith and he took us from the only people that have ever loved us, we were only kids and he killed our mother in front of me in cold blood" Charity said softly, "Is that the father that you love?"
The room was silent, Faith kept her head lowered as Charity looked on, waiting for her sister to respond, when no reply came, she spoke again, "Faith, he accused Mom of poisoning your mind when it's him that has corrupted you. I made a promise to her that I wouldn't let him do that and I failed to keep that promise and that hurts more than anything in this world"
Someone coughing behind her made Charity turn, there in the doorway stood Raph, he stepped slowly into the room but not too far, Faith was still uneasy about her hosts and Raph was warned to take it slow.
"Mike's just about done with dinner, when you're ready" he said softly, Charity smiled inwardly, in all the time she had been here that had been the softest tone she had heard from Raph. After all, he knew what it was like to fight with siblings, Charity had seen first hand how he and Leo could be, so maybe that made him more sympathetic to her situation with her sister? The tension in the room eased, at least from Charity anyway, she nodded to Raph and he turned to leave but a voice stopped him, he turned back to the speaker.
"My father considers you to be his enemy but Chaz calls you a friend" Faith said as she lifted her head to look straight at Raph.
Raph smiled at her then turned his gaze to Charity whilst addressing Faith, "Then 'Chaz' is right. She is my friend and you could be to, that is, if you don't try to kill my brother again"
Faith glanced between the turtle at the door and her sister several times before responding, "I'm sorry about that"
Raph chuckled, "It's not me you should be saying sorry to but if you come and eat with us, you can tell Leo yourself"
Faith looked at Charity, her expression pleading for help, Charity smiled and threw her arm around Faith's shoulder, leading her gently to the door, "Come on," she chuckled, "Dinner with these guys is fun and the food is the best I've ever tasted"
Dinner progressed soundly enough, after a slow start the occupants of the room began to relax and by the end of the meal, Charity, Faith and Bella laughed loudly at Mike's antics whilst his brothers groaned. Eventually though, everyone was laughing but mainly due to the infectious giggling and belly laughing from the three women.
The kitchen was vacated to allow the nominated family members to clean up, (in this instance it was Raph and Don, even though Raph did his fair share of protesting), the rest went about the lair trying to find something to entertain themselves with. Splinter had retreated to his room, whilst Bella moved towards Don's lab, mentioning something about running some tests. Charity and Faith sat in the old couch and flicked through the channels, Charity thought for a moment that Mike had disappeared somewhere but was distracted as Faith stood from the couch she glanced up at her sister and away from the TV then she noticed Leo silently slipping away behind them and enter the dojo.
"Where you going Faith?" she asked as she turned back.
"To make an apology" Faith replied as she headed in Leo's direction.
Charity didn't reply, instead she focused back on the TV, she heard a door open and close as she flicked through the channels. With some browsing she found a shopping channel and tilted her head slightly when the presenter displayed the latest product. She jumped when a pair of hands quickly wrapped around the top half of her body and pulled her up and over the back of the couch. After a moment of resistance she looked down at her attackers arms and smiled when she noticed they were green and half chuckled when she realized that she was really jumpy. Turning her head slightly she leaned her head back until it rested on Mike's shoulder.
"What was that for?" she pouted playfully.
"Just keeping you on your toes" he smiled back at her, she shifted in his arms so that she faced him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Oh yeah?" she leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss then pulled back, Mike felt a gentle slap to the back of his head and he chuckled.
Leo stopped halfway through one of the more simpler katas before he turned to Faith, she had sat patiently at the edge of the mat and watched him. He knew she was there but had only now decided to stop and address her.
"Something wrong Faith?" he asked.
She stood and bowed formally before venturing onto the mat, "No, I… wanted to apologize for what I did the other day. I'm sorry I attacked you" she responded quietly.
Leo smiled, "You don't have to apologize, you had only just come out of a coma. It's natural that you would have reacted like that"
"Well I'm sorry anyway," she smiled back, "Can I join you?"
"You want to spar?" he asked with a slight frown.
"Yeah, if that's okay with you" she replied as she moved to stand in front of him.
After a moment Leo nodded slightly, "Hand to hand?"
She nodded and they bowed to each other before taking their stances. Leo waited for her to attack and easily stopped her first swing with a block. He stepped aside quickly so that he was at her side and she shifted to meet him, he swung for her and she blocked before dropping to sweep at his feet. Leo jumped to avoid it and she straightened.
"Can I ask you something?" she said as she jumped away from a roundhouse kick.
"Sure" he replied, repositioning quickly.
Faith moved forward and swung for Leo's head, "What do I do?"
Leo ducked and almost didn't avoid her leg shooting for his stomach, the swing was a feint, "About what?" he asked, as he rolled to one side and stood sharply, he dived towards her and grabbed at her arm, he caught it and went to flip her.
"Charity's never lied to me before and my father has never lied to me before. Now I don't know who to believe and I'm… confused" she rolled with the flip and righted herself quickly.
"Faith, I can't help you decide what to believe, you have to figure that out for yourself" he responded as he backed away, he let her come to him and twisted as he caught her arm again, this time he spun and pinned her arm behind her.
Faith threw her elbow back and Leo knew that she wasn't focusing anymore, he caught it and pinned that back too. She relaxed and Leo let her go, she turned to him and bowed formally, which he returned, he gestured towards a bench by the door where a bottle of water and a towel sat ready for him. He offered her the towel, which she declined but gratefully accepted the water and drank a mouthful before offering it back to him. He smiled and took it back, quenching his own thirst. Faith sighed and sat on the bench,
"Let me ask you this. You love your sensei very much, he raised you and taught you everything you know. What if one of your brothers told you that he was a cold blooded murderer, that he killed your mother and threatened his life to keep him silent. Who would you believe?"
Leo stood silent for a moment, he had never thought about that in his life, it was… impossible, Splinter would never do anything like that, Leo then realized how Faith must feel.
"I… I don't know. I've never thought about it" he answered finally.
"Try now. What would you do?" she looked up at him and he let out a long breath as he sat on the bench next to her.
"I'd need proof, I wouldn't judge him until then" his answer was quick which surprised Faith, for a moment she wondered if she had insulted him but his response wasn't harsh and his face was gentle. His face was always gentle, even the other night when she had him pinned to the ground with a knife to his throat, he still had a soft and gentle expression even then. She looked away and down at the floor with a heavy sigh.
"The only way that I can get that proof is to go back. Charity doesn't want me to, she thinks she'll never see me again"
"It's not her decision. It's not mine either. If you want to leave, no one will stop you" he leans forward and rests his hands on his knees so that he can see her face, her eyes are closed and she doesn't reply, Leo continues.
"Faith? Have you committed crimes with the Foot?" he asks quietly.
"No" she answered calmly as if she wasn't offended by his question. He became curious that maybe she knew about it.
"Did you know that they did?"
She opened her mouth to speak but paused, she looked up at him then back to the floor again, finally she answered, "No"
"You don't sound so sure"
"I'm not. I had my doubts but…" she pauses again and Leo waits for her to finish but she doesn't so he continues to push her along gently.
"Even though he killed your mother?"
Faith looked up at that and leaned back against the wall, changing her glance from the floor to the ceiling, "He told me that it was self defense. He said that my mother tried to take Charity away from us"
Leo nodded as he too leaned back, "And being eight years old, you believed him"
"Yes" she nodded numbly.
"You need answers Faith" he swiveled slightly on the bench to face her and she felt his movement, looking down to make eye contact with him, Faith noticed that gentle expression again and he continued, "And I'm willing to go with you to make sure that you're safe"
Faith stood quickly and stared wide-eyed at him, "You can't! What if my father finds you? They'll be too many ninja there, it's too risky"
"I think I can hide from him and his ninja long enough for you to find out what you need to know and get out safely" he responded with a smile, she didn't feel much better for it. It was a risk he was willing to take for her and he barely knew her. She realized that Charity was right about him.
"What will your family say? Surely they wouldn't approve" she said quietly.
"They won't but I know that they won't stop me either" he gave a lop-sided smile and she half chuckled.
"Charity told me that you're not a rule breaker, she said that Raph did that often enough and you argue with him about it"
Leo shrugged and lifted his hands up in a defensive gesture, "Hey, even I bend the rules sometime"
She let out a small laugh and smiled softly at him, "Thank you Leonardo"
He stood and bowed his head a little, "Call me Leo and you don't have to thank me, I told you yesterday that I would help you and I meant it"
She leant forward and kissed his cheek lightly, "Thank you… Leo"
AN: I think this is the longest chapter that I've ever written! Whew!
Anyways thanks to those who are reading this and a BIG thank you to those who reviewed, Reluctantdragon, Spootycup, Lioness-Goddess, S.H.M.J. and Rev. As always, it's greatly appreciated! :) Thank you.
