A/N: Yes,I know. I (and my excellent beta-reader CPQ) are finally brushing off the virtual cobwebs from this fic and picking up where we so inconsiderately left off. With the completion of Hidden Truth (lates in theSecrets Series) we can now direct all of our energies to writing and finishing this fic. Hallalujah! (cricket chirp)
Warnings: Um... mild swearing. Pretty much it...
Disclaimer: I do not own Ninja Turtles.
White Raven
Meetings, Greetings and an Argument
The next day dawned bright and early, and for once, Sheila was not in bed. She was up and bustling by seven, running a comb through her hair and brushing her teeth at the same time. She wore blue jeans that had long since been chopped off just below the knee, and a florescent orange tank top. Her hair was in a ponytail. She grabbed her backpack, tied her favorite navy hoodie around her waist and raced downstairs.
"Watcha doin' up s'early?" a bleary-eyed Aquarelle inquired from the table. She had plate of blueberry muffins in front of her. Sheila snatched one from the plate and bit into it; it was her mother's work. Her mother was an excellent cook, and loved doing it. Sheila relished the muffin as she thrust her feet unceremoniously into her white flip-flops. She was opening the door as she called,
"Let mom know I'm going to 2nd Time Around, kay, Aqua?" she yelled over her shoulder. "See ya later!"
Sheila half walked, half jogged down the street. Her muffin quickly vanished, and she tucked the paper wrapper in her pocket, not being a litterbug. She arrived at the antique store. The sign on the door read 'Closed. Please Come Back Later."
It is Sunday, Sheila thought. I wonder if April's in her apartment? Sheila ventured into the alley next to the shop, knocking on the side door. No reply. She knocked again. There was a scuffle from withing, and the door opened a crack.
"Sheila?" April looked surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Thought I'd drop by." With a sly grin, she added, "Seen any Shadow Warriors lately?" April chuckled.
"They told me about you. They helped you from a gang attack, right?" Sheila nodded. "C'mon up. They're here now, actually." Sheila followed April inside, kicking off her flip-flops. They went upstairs into the apartment.
"Guys, Sheila's here," April called as she walked into the living room. Sheila's eye swept the room expectantly.
Mikey sat on the couch. He grinned at her with a cheery "Hey babe!" His friendly manner helped quell the irrational butterflies swarming in her stomach. Don was seated on a chair and smiled at her shyly. Raph nodded brusquely at her. He leaned casually against the wall, a dagger-like thing with three prongs twirling easily on his thick green index finger. She noted an exact replica of it was thrust through his belt.
The fourth green occupant of the room stood with his arms crossed in an almost defensive manner. He wore a blue bandanna and the hilts of two swords were visible over the edge of his shell. He was standing behind the sofa, his eyes trained on Sheila, his face smooth and expressionless. His pupil-less eyes were cold. Sheila shivered slightly and sat next to Mikey. She subconsciously tugged on the sleeves of her hoodie.
"Anyone want some tea?" asked April. "I've put the kettle on." The blue-clad turtle nodded, his eyes never leaving Sheila. Raph shrugged in a neutral sort of way. Mikey shook his head, and Don got up and offered to help out. April and Don disappeared into the kitchen.
"I don't believe we've met," the blue-banded terrapin stated calmly, breaking the silence.
"Oh! I'm Sheila Thomson," Sheila introduced herself nervously, shifting in her seat. "Your friends saved me from some gangsters yesterday."
"My name is Leonardo," he replied. "And they're my brothers." His eyes hadn't budged.
"Why don't ya take a picture?" Sheila snapped irritably, getting annoyed now. "It'll last longer."
"She's got ya there, Leo," Raph snickered. Leo just continued his stare. Sheila felt her cheeks warm up.
"You take sugar, Leo?" April called from the kitchen.
"No, thanks," he said. He hadn't even raised his voice. Sheila was now beginning to wish she had never even got out of bed.
The guy got issues? She growled mentally. Now I know why I didn't meet him yesterday. Maybe they thought I'd report them if I met him. She snorted. Leo's eyes narrowed. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him.
April and Don arrived with the mugs of tea, setting them on the coffee table. Sheila blew on the hot beverage, purposely ignoring Leo. He actually tore his gaze from her just long enough to pick up his own tea before continuing his constant vigilant on her.
"So," he said. "Donatello told me that you have sworn on your honour to never to reveal our existence to anyone, correct?"
"No," replied Sheila coolly. She waited for his face to begin to darken before she added as an afterthought, "I swore on my White Ravens."
"Your… White Ravens?" Leo blinked. "What are those?"
"My most treasured possessions, let's put it that way," she informed him.
"They are material possessions," Leonardo shrugged indifferently. "They can't be that important."
"You have no friggin' idea, you shangala,"(A/N: See end Author's Note)Sheila hissed venomously. "Don't you dare say they aren't important! But fine! Have it your way. I swear that if I tell anyone about you – if it's for my own gain, and not yours, that is – I will allow Aquarelle to wake me up for one thousand weekends at 5:00 AM. Okay? That satisfy you?"
"We do that anyway," Raph murmured.
"I sleep in till eleven. You get the point?" Sheila snarled. Leo was appraising her again. His face was unreadable.
"Fine," he answered after a pregnant pause. "And… what's a 'shangala'?"
"Jackass."
"Excuse me?"
"No, it means 'jackass' in Spanish." Sheila smirked at the befuddled look on his face.
After that Leo pretty much left her alone. Don and April went off to work on some computer program or other, and Raph disappeared after seeing a mild commotion in an alley opposite the building. Leo prowled the room, meditating off and on. Sheila and Mikey talked.
"So, you like cartoons?"
"Shell yeah! I love cartoons! They're mother's milk to me."
Sheila giggled.
"How about you?"
"Cartoons are cool. I like drawing best."
"You mean drawing cartoons?" inquired Mikey.
"Sometimes. Mostly not."
"Draw me something." Mikey put on his best puppy-dog pout.
"Draw you something? Um… what?"
"Anything."
Sheila cast a glance around the room, trying to think of something interesting to draw. Her gaze settled on Leonardo, meditating quietly in the corner. A slow grin spread across her face.
She rummaged in the coffee table draw and found a pencil stub and scrap of paper. She spread it out on the tabletop and looked at Leo again, sizing him up. Then she began to draw.
Quickly she sketched out a rough picture of Leo. He made it easy, not so much as twitching. She finished it off briskly and handed it to an overly excited Michelangelo.
"Oh… wow!" Mikey whistled, holding the drawing at arms length and studying it critically. "This is great! You've really captured his essence!"
Sheila cocked her head, looking at her picture.
"I don't know. He looks kind of uptight to me."
Mikey grinned wickedly.
"That's what I meant."
Leo lifted an eyelid, glaring at the guffawing pair.
"I'm trying to meditate."
"Yes sir, Mr. Relaxation, sir," Mikey rolled his eyes. Sheila muffled her giggles with her fist. Leo opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and returned to his meditation.
"But seriously, though, this is great," Mikey said once he had sobered. "Can I keep it?"
"Sure!" Sheila nodded. "Nobody's ever wanted to keep one of my drawings before."
"Well they should be in an art gallary!" Mikey declared. "They're damn good! So long as they're not of us, of course."
"No, that wouldn't go over well, eh?" chuckled the girl. "And I don't think anybody'd pay to see my White Ravens." Her smile faded abruptly. Mikey frowned.
"What are they exactly? You said you've 'tried to draw them since you were seven'."
"I… they hold a certain, um, sentimental value to me," Sheila replied carefully. As Mikey only quirked an eyeridge, she elaborated. "Okay. You know how I'm blind in one eye?" Mikey nodded. "Well, when I was little, my uncle had a pet raven. A white raven. Her name was Branwen, after the Welsh goddess of love. Because I was so young, I thought that I was… abnormal. A freak of nature, you might say. Even though my parents tried to pursuade me otherwise, I believed I was unnatural. Branwen was the first living thing I'd ever met that had a blind eye, too. She was the same as me. I was really attached to her.
"Well, when she died, I was devastated. Then I started drawing. Obsessively. I just drew her over and over, day and night, whenever I had a spare minute. I've kept every single one that I've ever drawn. I've got the all in my room." Sheila sighed. "It was my way of coping, to try to create an exact replica of her so she'd always exist. Kinda lame, huh?"
"Nah," Mikey shook his head with a smile. "That's actually a really cool way of dealing. With her death, I mean." He paused. "You said that you've been 'trying' to draw her since you were seven. Why trying?"
"I can never get her just right. Never perfect. I guess I'm a bit of a perfectionist with my drawings."
"'Perfection is self-abuse of the highest order'," Mikey said with a grin. "Or that's what Master Splinter says."
"Master Splinter?"
"Our sensei? We mentioned him. You haven't met him, but you will. He'll want to see you."
"Oh, right, I forgot." Sheila let her gaze wander the room, her ears picking up the sounds of Don and April talking in low voices from her office. Her eye found Mikey again. He was watching his brother meditate, his face thoughtful. His right arm was slung easily over the back of the couch, his hand resting a few inches shy of her left shoulder. His other hand was toying with one of his 'chucks. His two-toed feet were on the coffee table. Sheila felt an unwelcome prickle along her spine, as she looked him over, making her shiver.
He's buff! She thought to herself with a smile. Much more muscly than the guys at school… she stopped that thought. Ugh! What is wrong with me? He's a turtle! Nothing wrong with that, but how am I supposed to even have a relationship with him? Why am I even thinking this! Who says I'm having a relationship with him? Not that I am, of course. What if he doesn't like humans? But he acts friendly. He calls me babe. That's proof he likes me, right? But he calls April babe too. But not the same way as he does with me. Maybe he likes me!
"Sheil'?" Mikey waved a hand in front of her face. "Ya on Earth, babe, or should I send out a spaceship?"
"Oh," Sheila mumbled, blinking. "Oh. Um… I… was thinking. Yeah. Thinking – not of you, or anything, other things… ahhhh…" she felt herself blush, and saw him smiling.
"You were looking at me?"
"No! I mean… I was thinking of… stuff…" Sheila felt her cheeks heat up even more and hunkered down on the couch to hide her humiliation.
"We had better go." The cool statement came from Leo. He had risen and now stood with his arms crossed behind them. A frown creased his forehead.
"Aw, party pooper," Mikey grumbled getting up. "I guess I'll see ya around, Sheil'?"
"Yeah! Definitely! I mean, sure!" Sheila felt her cheeks warm up again. Leo's frown deepened, but he said nothing.
"Donnie! C'mon, lover boy! We're going home!" Mikey called. Don came hurrying out of the office, flushing.
"'Lover boy'?" he growled in Mike's direction as he passed.
"You were in a lady's room," his brother smirked.
"Her office, Mike! Not her bedroom!" Don was looking embarrassed now. April had followed him out and was looking equally humiliated.
"I didn't specify which room, but it's a lady's," Mikey sniffed obnoxiously. He grinned at Sheila. "See ya around, babe!" He and his brothers slid open a window that led to the alley, leaping from fire-escape to fire-escape and away, out of sight.
"You seemed to hit it off with them pretty well!" April commented, closing the window.
"Mikey's easy to get along with," Sheila agreed. "Don and Raph are pretty friendly… but Leonardo's a bit strange. What's his problem?"
"He's overprotective," April smiled. "He softenes up eventually, don't worry."
"I somehow doubt it," remarked Sheila with a shudder. "He gives me the creeps." She got up. "Well, I'd better go now. Thanks for the tea!"
"No problem! I'll see you later!"
Sheila let herself out of the door and set off down the alley, humming to herself happily. She could not remember feeling so content before! She rounded the corner, coming out on the main street. A prickling along the back of her neck made her look back, but she saw nothing. With a shrug she turned and mingled with the crowd.
"Just what were you thinking?" Leonardo snapped at Mikey. They were in the lair. Mikey was watching TV, Leo standing with his arms crossed in front of him, stubbornly blocking the screen. "We don't even know her. You just brought her home! You didn't even tell sensei! Just because he was out – "
"Just get off my case," Mikey snapped back. Now he knew why Raph got so easily ticked at their blue-banded brother. He just wouldn't let it go.
"You sound like Raph," Leo snorted. "Listen! She could have told someone! She might still tell someone! We can't see her again, is that clear? Especially since you two… like each other!" He let the impact of these words sink in, and a look of dawning comprehension cross Michelangelo's face, followed shortly by one of anger.
"'Like each other'?" he demanded. "We were talking! It's called being friendly."
"I know what I saw," Leo growled. "I won't have it, Michelangelo! She's a human. It will never happen, so just – "
"But that didn't stop you liking Karai!" Mikey got up and stormed toward his room, yelling over his shoulder, "And you can't stop me seeing her!" before he slammed his door. Leo stayed where he was for a moment, then slowly turned and walked toward the dojo.
A/N: Okay, I think shangala (sp...?) means jackass in Spanish. Being Canadian I'm not learning Spanish, so I wouldn't know. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
For all you Leo fans - I know I'm making him out to be the 'bad guy' in this. I don't hate him, so please don't kill me! Bear with him, he'll come around! He just needs to thaw a bit.
As always, review, please! You know the drill...