The Legacy
Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adult or adolescent transformed shadow warrior chelonians.
Chapter Three- What's In a Name?Michaelangelo:
I woke to hear Rama whimpering in her bedroom, no matter where I was in the lair, I could easily pick up any time Rama was in distress over something.
I glanced at my clock, it was only a little after three thirty in the morning and I had only been asleep for an hour since coming back from patrol. I swung out of bed to go and investigate.
I found Rama sitting up in her bed crying and wiping tears with the back of her hand as she held Franklin close.
" Hey Rama what's a matter? You have a bad dream hon'?"
Rama only nodded meekly sniffing a bit as I came and sat down beside her. Almost instantly she crawled onto my lap and snuggled close to me. Her breath hitching slightly from the crying she'd been doing.
Sometimes when Rama had bad dreams she would come into my room to be with me. Other times, like tonight, she would remain in her own room and cry. I think she was starting to learn that it was only dreams and it couldn't really hurt her. But every once in a while those dreams could be just scary enough that she didn't want to be alone.
She never talked much about her dreams, perhaps she didn't have enough words, or they faded on waking as dreams often do.
I held her close stroking her back as I whispered to her, rocking her a bit in my arms as she slowly stopped her crying. I wiped a few tears from her eyes as she took some deep shaky breaths and yawned a bit.
" You want to come sleep with me Rama?" I offered.
She nodded wrapping her arms around my neck and clinging to my in reply.
I packed her back to my bedroom and tucked her into the bed close beside me and she soon fell back to sleep.
….
I woke at five and was surprised to see that Rama was still fast asleep beside me; it looked like she was actually going sleep in for a change. I decided that I would just let her sleep herself out, that way I could get some peace and quiet.
We were about halfway through our morning routine when Rama came running into the dojo zipping out onto the mats before Splinter could intercept her, and she wasn't listening for his call to come either.
She made a bee line straight for me squealing with delight " I find daddy."
Leo and I had been in the midst of sparring and as Rama came to latch on my leg, he was swinging a kick my way. Leo did his best to correct the move and slow the momentum of the strike.
I grabbed hold of Rama and forced her down on to the mat, knowing if that blow did hit, it might harm her, even though it wouldn't have done a great deal against me.
Leo surprisingly enough, or maybe not so shocking when you realize it was Leo, managed to completely stop the kick though he almost unbalanced himself in doing so.
" That was too close" Leo muttered through gritted teeth. As he heaved a sigh of relief that Rama hadn't been injured.
I stood up picking Rama up she was smiling cheerfully as if that had been the most fun. I scowled at her.
" Rama you know you are not supposed to run in the dojo" I scolded her, the smile on her face instantly waned at my rebuke. " Even more important is you are not to bother us when we practice right?" I asked sharply
Rama's lip came out trembling slightly as she glanced around nervously " You mad daddy? Am I bad?" She whimpered a pout on her face and looking like she might start to cry.
I looked at her face and my heart softened she was still just a child and I knew how hard it had to be for her to remember all of her rules. I bent and hugged her close. " No Rama I am not mad at you and you aren't bad. It is just you have to be more careful, you could get hurt when we practice" I reminded her more gently " Now where are you suppose to be when we work out?"
" With Piner" she answered quickly.
" That is right over with Master Splinter," I agreed, " So why don't you go over and wait with him. We will be done soon then you can have a cuddle for a bit before we have breakfast. I love you Rama."
Rama grinned throwing her arms about my neck and resting her cheek against mine " Uve you daddy."
I gave her a kiss and tousled her hair before sending her over to Splinter. Then with her out of the way I glanced at my brother " So where we're we before we were interrupted?"
Leo glanced over to the sidelines to insure that Rama was safely where she belonged before returning to our sparring session.
When Rama had been around two years of age, she had been very upset to see us spar with our weapons, she had freaked out and run from the dojo crying about us getting hurt. It had taken a great deal to convince her that we were not going get hurt, that we were in essence only playing a game with one another.
Sure I didn't think practicing was that much fun or enjoyable but I had to set an example for Rama. The years of slacking off and skipping practice were long gone. I practiced harder then I had in my whole life simply because I wanted to be there for her, and I sure as well, didn't want my brothers coming home one night to explain to Rama why she might never see daddy again.
I wasn't going drill myself as hard as Leo did but I saw the necessity of keeping my skills sharp and dangerous.
After our sparring session Splinter allowed Rama to come and join us. She of course went after her favourite uncle first.
" Unca' Raphie" she threw a punch at his plastron. Raph instantly fell backward onto the mats as if her blow had caused it.
Rama blinked in surprise as her brow furrowed in puzzlement " Raphie?" she asked " Raphie you hurt?" She tiptoed over and leaned over top of him.
Raph suddenly leapt to his feet letting loose a roar Rama screeched jumping back in fear whirling around to run but she wasn't fast enough. Raph grabbed her and hauled her back into his arms as he began to tickle her.
" No ticke Raphie" Rama laughed.
Raph paused as he stared down at her, sprawled across his legs as she laughed uncontrollably, he arched an eye ridge " You give up then kid?"
" I gives" Rama agreed.
Raph stood her on her feet but before he got up she edged in close and tickled him under the shell.
" Oh that is it! You are in big trouble now" Raph growled as he took off chasing her around the dojo to Rama's squeals of delight.
I groaned so much for her rule of no running in the dojo we would never teach her, or get her to obey her rules for that matter, while Raph continued to do things like this.
" Raph run her around the playground at least" I ordered.
Raph paused and shrugged giving me a perplexed look "Why Mike?"
Rama looked up at her uncle before chiming in with " Why?" only her tone was more demanding.
" Don't you start her on that Raph, you know why. How in the world am I to teach her anything, like to respect the dojo, when you encourage her to break the rules" I insisted trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.
Raph snorted and gave a dismissive wave of his hand " Aw come on Mike you used to love breaking rules" Raph rolled his eyes " Your not much fun since you became a father Mike." He scooped Rama up and spun her over his shoulders.
I guess that was what being a father did to you it made you responsible. Made you think and do things differently from when you yourself didn't have to worry about setting examples or things like that.
" Raphie. Raphie" Rama chanted obviously tired of being ignored by her uncle and wanting all of his attention.
Raph held her in his arms " How many times have I told ya kid to call me Raph?" he asked of her.
" Unca Raphie pway" Rama demanded ignoring his question.
Raph held her firm glaring at her " Raph. Just Raph. Not Raphie okay? Raph is good enough." He insisted.
" You Unca Raphie" Rama declared, pointing at him with one finger a grin on her face.
I knew Raph hated to be called Raphie however I couldn't resist teasing my brother a little " It looks like you are going to be uncle Raphie for awhile there bro."
" Dumb kid" Raph grunted as he tossed Rama into the air to catch her.
Rama laughed " Raphie name" she stated.
" My name is Raph." He corrected her.
Leo tried to hide a smile " Give it up it is obviously a lost cause" he warned Raph.
" Uh-uh Raphie name" Rama insisted stubbornly.
" I'm going drop you on your pointed head you keep that up" Raph threatened as he dangled Rama upside down by her legs.
I tried not to laugh knowing how Raph would resent that. It was rather humorous actually, him trying to act tough while amusing his niece at the same time.
I began to ponder Rama's refusal to call Raph anything but the name he so detested. If any of us called him that we'd have our teeth knocked out. As I turned things over in my mind I had an idea occur to me " Wait a sec Raph what if Rama is trying to say your full name."
" My full name is not Raphie," he snapped.
" Yeah but you know Rama has trouble saying anything with the letters L or T in it. Take the L off your name and you have Raphie." I declared.
Raph scowled before putting Rama down looking into her face " Are you trying to say my whole name kid?" he shook his head. " Don't ya know Raph works just as well"
"Raphie" Rama said simply as she hugged him a sweet smile on her face.
" Rama honey Raph-ie-L" I spoke the name slowly.
Rama gave me a questioning look " Raphie" she repeated yet again as she glanced back at her uncle.
" Raph-ae-L" I tried again really stressing the L this time for her sake.
Rama's brow puckered with intense concentration " Raphie-L" she said suddenly.
" That is right you got it Rama," I cheered for her.
" Raphiel, Raphiel, Raphiel" Rama chanted over and over again as if she was afraid she would forget that treasured L.
I saw a strange look cross my brother's face, one of pure astonishment at hearing that particular word from Rama. I'd only seen that look on Raph's face once before and that was the first time he ever heard Rama say his name.
Course if Rama kept this up she was bound to drive Raph batty and that could also be lots of fun to watch. Meanwhile I decided to go for broke and try one more L word.
" Rama?"
She turned and looked at me expectantly.
" Unc-Le Raphael" I said, holding my breath a bit in anticipation.
" Unca?" Rama tried.
" No Rama try it again" I coaxed, " Unc-LE" I repeated stressing the L sound for her.
" Uncle Raphiel" Rama yelled jubilantly.
" Good L's Rama. Just for that you can have whatever you want for breakfast." I told her figuring she had earned it.
" Pancake" Rama said quickly.
I kind of expected that Rama did love pancakes " All right guess I better make us some pancakes" I agreed.
" Uncle Raphiel gonna have pancake?" Rama asked looking up at Raph.
" Sure kid once dad gets them made" he replied as he picked her up tossing her in the air and then catching her and spinning around in circles.
Rama laughed when Raph paused she shook her head a bit as if to clear it from any remains of vertigo before glancing in Leo's direction.
" Uncle Leo-nardo" she announced a smug smile on her face as if she had just waiting to spring that on him. " Uncle Dona-ello."
Those two looked at one another seeming stunned by Rama calling them by their full names I smiled myself as I headed for the kitchen whistling a tune. It seemed Rama was on her way to saying her L's now the next trick would be getting her to say her T's.
I couldn't understand why Rama opted to go for Raph's full name, which we used very rarely. Only one who used it with any regularity was Master Splinter but I suppose that was her choice after all.
Maybe Rama wanted to say the full name simply because it was what Splinter used, she was young but even she was aware of Splinter's place in our family just due to the respect we gave him.
….
I sat and watched Leo working with Rama so far her lesson today was going quite well Rama was actually paying attention to Leo as he took her through the session.
Of course I had run her around the playground for a few hours before this in an effort to burn off some of her excess energy.
I knew though that Ramiela was easily distracted and it took a great deal of patience from Leo to get her to focus on what he wanted from her, not that Leo was an easy person to please, but he did make allowances for Rama.
He had started the lesson with some gymnastic moves and was now trying to teach her the front snap kick.
Leo shook his head at Rama's stance she had taken " Bend your knees a little more or you will fall on your rear." He cautioned her.
Rama giggled at his words as she shifted her position in an effort to comply with his orders.
" That is better. Now the back leg comes up snapping forward quickly." Leo encouraged her.
Rama obeyed his gentle orders but after a few kicks she started to relax her arms.
" Keep your arms in position Rama" Leo said as soon as he saw them start to drop. " Now try the other leg."
Rama switched and performed the kick to Leo's satisfaction " Good job Ramiela" Leo acknowledged allowing his pleasure to flow to her.
Rama gave a cheeky grin and I saw a mischievous twinkle spark suddenly in her eyes.
Oh no now what is she up to? I wondered knowing that look all too well.
Suddenly Rama leaped up into the air and performed an air born snap kick before landing perfectly on the mat. A pleased look showing on her face, at her accomplishment.
I was stunned and I could tell that Leo was just as surprised as I was, when one realized very little could shake our leader up, it was easy enough to tell that Rama's manoeuvre had taken him totally unaware.
Leo quickly recovered though and masked his true feelings " Ramiela I have not taught you how to do jump kicks as of yet, so you shouldn't be doing them until you learn how to do it correctly. You might end up hurting yourself if you do perform moves that you haven't been fully taught in" he scolded her kindly.
" I know how. I watch you do it when you practice." Rama insisted.
She had a point she had seen all of us perform jump kicks in our work outs.
" It is good to watch and learn what we do" Leo allowed " however we move very quickly in our practice sessions. We move fast enough you might miss a crucial step in how to perform the move correctly and then injure your self" Leo explained firmly.
" I sorry" Rama mumbled hanging her head.
" I don't want you doing any more moves that I haven't taught you as of yet all right?" Leo ordered.
" All right Uncle Leonardo" she said meekly moving a foot in a circular pattern as she gazed up at him.
Leo smiled " That is a good girl. You have done a great job today Rama so I am going let you go early." He announced.
Rama grinned, this time she leaped into the air for joy, letting out a yell.
Leo scowled at her giving a mock glower at her even before her feet had landed back on the mat.
Rama hit the ground and froze hardly breathing as she watched Leo's stern gaze locked on her. She gulped a little and I could tell she wanted to fidgit but she remained still.
Leo kept her silent and still in one spot, with only his look, holding her for a few minutes before letting a smile flicker across his face. He bowed now officially releasing her from his silent reprimand.
Rama bowed lower in return as proper etiquette demanded of her " Ank you Sensay Leonardo" she replied. Then she turned to look at me " Did I do that right daddy?"
Leo laughed a bit.
" Yes Rama you did it right" I replied, " Just remember when Leo teaches you your lesson he is your Sensei and you should call him that. It is like saying your please and thank yous." I felt it was important for Rama to learn manners, besides being raised ninja meant she had to learn a few manners.
Eastern cultures placed a much higher value on such things, then those in the West but we would teach Rama manners of both regions since it was our tradition.
" Teaching your daughter respect Mike?" Leo teased me.
" Yeah well I wouldn't get too used to it if I were you bro, she is my daughter after all."
" No one will forget that." Leo declared as he scooped Rama up and placed her on his left shoulder, he couldn't give her much of a piggy back due to his katana handles getting in the way so he would just sit her on one shoulder.
" So what is for next lesson?" I asked curious.
" I think we will try some shuriken throwing." Leo decided.
I nodded, the practice shuriken were made of plastic so there was no way Rama could injure herself on them, however they would allow Rama to learn at an early age how to handle the weapon properly.
Leo would not permit Rama to touch real weapons, at least not until she was older and could understand better the implications of using such weapons. So the practice weapons came in handy for many reasons.
Rama would be taught at all times to respect the practice weapons as if they were real, just as we had been taught. Come to think of it I recall Splinter handing out some harsh punishments whenever he caught one of us handling a practice weapon inappropriately.
….
That night I relaxed on the couch watching TV but mostly thinking about the jump kick Rama had performed earlier in the day.
The more I reviewed the move in my mind the more I was certain of what I had seen her do. Rama had to of known what she was doing she did it perfectly. Not one flaw or mistake had I spotted.
She had done it without being taught and yet it was a move that was quite advanced considering where Rama happened to be at this stage of her training.
I decided that I wanted to talk to Leo about it, see if he had seen what I had or if maybe I was just feeling overly proud of my daughter; Rama had a way of doing that to me. Of course I couldn't talk to Leo right now as he was out on patrol.
I then pondered the idea that if Rama was capable of performing one move that was beyond her training, if she could also perform other moves that Leo hadn't taught her as of yet. It was possible the jump kick was not the only move she had learned from watching us over the years.
I knew that I could encourage her to show me what she knew but I also knew that she might hurt herself badly while she showed off her knowledge. She had been lucky today and it was only right for Leo to impress upon her the importance of not doing such things out of turn.
Rama was hard to figure out at the best of times Don insisted that Rama's intelligence was stunted to some degree saying that an average four year old had a better grasp of vocabulary then what Rama displayed.
There was nothing wrong with her hearing and she did grasp most things that were said to her and could follow a list of instructions that were given to her with no problem.
Splinter countered Don's arguments with a comment of his own " Each child is unique and an individual in their own right. As such it is not fair to judge her by the merit or abilities of any other child."
Me, I didn't know who to believe. I knew either one of them could be right but I sided a bit more with Splinter taking comfort from the fact our Master had raised all of us and we each had displayed our own personalities.
While Rama's vocabulary was weak she did seem strong in other areas, which I felt was normal I mean every body had strengths and weaknesses they had to deal with in life. So what if Rama did have some sort of speech problem, I think she would make up for it in other areas. Limited speech wasn't as bad as some problems Rama could have been born with.
Maybe Splinter was right and there was really nothing to worry about. So why was I worried about Rama?
I was pulled from my thoughts by the door opening and Leo striding in with a battered, bloodied female lying unconscious in Leo's arms.
I sat there, I am sure with a slack jawed wide eyed expression, in total disbelief. I blinked my eyes quickly but the view didn't change any.
Leo didn't go bringing girls home that he saved on the street. It just wasn't his way. No Leo obeyed every rule to the letter, and he fully believed that Splinter was right about humans who might want to exploit and harm us.
Any human was a potential threat to our family and our very existence, so it was far better to help those who needed it without revealing ourselves in any way. We were never let a human get wise to us.
Raph and I had brought home a few girls we thought could use our help, I had even brought back some very young boys who spent a lot of time on the street to avoid problems at home. However even the few we brought here were ones that it was a choice of doing so or letting that person suffer something serious.
Leo never had brought any one home though not until now and that meant one thing, Leo must have felt that he had no other choice.
" Mike get Don" Leo ordered sharply that immediately got me going instead of sitting like a lump on the couch, while Leo packed the woman towards the infirmary.
A while later we had the female bandaged and stitched up she was lying comfortably as possible in one of the two infirmary beds, her breathing steady.
I went over and placed a hand on my brother's shoulder " Leo you know I just feel that I have to say this." I began solemly, but couldn't keep the grin from my face " What is the big idea bringing her home with you? Don't you even realize the danger you are putting all of us into, when you go off and do things like this?" I demanded in a joking fashion " This will be held against you when it comes time to vote for leadership again…" I remarked casually.
Don came over and gave me a playful smack upside my head and gave a negative shake of his own heaving a sigh of exasperation, while rolling his eyes.
Leo meanwhile stood with his arms crossed his plastron giving me his ever calm, almost regal stoic glare.
TBC
Lioness-Goddess: Keep watching where there is a will there is a way and Mike just might find that way yet. A gratitude for your insight.
Reinbeauchaser: True Mike isn't his usual, or what is expected to be his usual self. But as you pointed out becoming a parent changes things, often, in more ways then one. Rama's birth and Shay leaving meant Mike grew up fast. I like the line about the hamster dead over the lights are on but no body is home. A gratitude for your insight.