Disclaimer – Once again, I'm without any income generated from writing TMNT stories. I only own Gabby, Mindy, Jordan, and Cassandra Edwards. Be it known, too, that I am only borrowing characters owned exclusively by Wendy Peabody (aka Aignatius on Stealthy Stories). Her OC's are Rahab, Gaele, Devon, Seth, and Riahna.

Anyway, go read Aig's fics, they're awesome and mine pale in comparison next to hers. Let her know what you think of her stories, too! It's only polite, ya know.

Anyway, I decided to cut the first chapter in half. So, for the most part, Chapter 2 – for those who have already read Chapter 1 – will be familiar to you. I did make a few changes, adding more dialogue and scenes. But – to be honest – nothing different outside of how it originally read. I just thought the first chapter was too long.

I did re-write or add parts to that chapter, as well, but I am not stating such as to beg for a second read. I'm just stating what I did – which is what I always do, and that is to improve where I feel I need to. LOL

I hope to have chapter three written and uploaded sometime – just as soon as I can think of what to write. :0) I know how this is going to go and end, it's just the path leading to it that seems a bit obscure to me right now. The dreaded WB is trying to take route - again. -

As before, though, italics imply either thought or flashbacks events.

Be blessed,

A Time of Reflection

by reinbeauchaser

Chapter 2 – Intrusive Introspection

Gabriella sat in the lotus position in front of Leonardo, her father-in-law and jonin of the clan.

She waited.

The platform where Leo sat on wasn't more than four inches higher than where Gabby was, but the pillow he was using made him appear as if he were looming over her. As a result, to position himself the way Leo was doing now, forced Gabby to look up at him.

As Seth had told her not long before, it was a psychological technique that Leo used whenever he needed to 'cut to the chase'.

Initially, her sessions with his father had begun after they had rescued and returned Don to the clan. Gabby had willingly complied, too, since her repentance for running away was quite sincere.

Over the next few weeks, however, she began to realize that she had issues she was quite uncomfortable with or unwilling to share with Leo. It didn't take too long before she began to chafe under his direction, too. She was starting to find it increasingly more difficult to endure his pointed and oftentimes intrusive queries. After one rather uncomfortable meeting with Leo, she later complained to Seth how his father postured himself with her.

"I know he's doing it deliberately, Seth. He just wants to intimidate me, to cow me into submission!" she complained after returning from one such session, "He keeps asking me questions I don't want to answer!"

Seth knew that his wife was upset, the way she had stormed into the guesthouse. He could tell that whatever his father had asked of her, had hit a sore spot with Gabby. Still, he understood best of all why Leonardo would be so persistent. "He'll do whatever is necessary to get to the root of your problem, Gabby," Seth had explained to her.

"I just wish he'd stay out of my mind, though! Can't he operate like a normal person?" she fumed, grabbing up a few of Mindy's scattered toys and tossing them into the toy box. Currently, her daughter was with Devon at the dojo. That alone added to Gabby's momentary discontent.

"Good grief, Gabs, he's ninja - and," Seth had nearly laughed, "in case you haven't noticed, he's not normal and neither are we!"

"Well, maybe so, but I can tell that he hates me, I just know it," his wife had bemoaned insecurely.

"Father does NOT hate you, Gabby, he's just – well – he wants you to understand yourself and he wants you to come to terms with certain things, is all."

"Is all?" Gabby chuckled, "Seems Leo's only interested in promoting his will as jonin, as if nothing else matters to him but to insure everyone's on the same page of ninjitsu that he is."

"No, that's not it, Gabs. Father is only concerned about your welfare and about the health of the clan." Seth tried to counter, "It's his responsibility. If one person is out of sorts, then that affects the whole family. It wouldn't matter much if we were as separated like we were years ago, but where we're all living pretty close together right now, it's important for us to find unity. It's Father's job to make sure of it."

"Then explain to me why he doesn't demand as much from MY father!" Gabby complained.

It was true, Raph – in Gabby's eyes – had very little expected from him. He didn't have to attend meetings or do katas or even hang out with the other members of the clan. He didn't ignore anyone and he did make most gatherings, but it was quite obvious to Gabriella that Raphael enjoyed a kind of freedom she could only hope for.

Laughing, Seth shook his head, "I am NOT getting into that debate. Suffice it to say, your father has earned his right to be his own person, but if you watch him carefully, Gabs, you'll see him show respect for the leadership in this clan, even though he may have a difference of opinion or even harbor resentment."

Regardless of how much Seth tried to explain things to her, though, Gabby still seemed irritated whenever Leonardo would call her to sit with him. It bothered her like nothing else to have him prick at her mind with questions she would have much rather ignore. Where she could not avoid him, though, she gave him short non-committal answers to his queries in his attempt to unravel the mystery that was her.

And it was because of her stubborn resolve not to cooperate that Leo insisted Gabby spend time with him each morning at his hilltop residence.

Nevertheless, Gabby interpreted these little 'get-togethers' as nothing more than punishment for running away when she did.

Regardless, though, there was at least one thing for which she was thankful.

Leonardo hadn't required of her any physical training in ninjitsu, yet.

Gabriella was certain it was because she had just birthed Jordan only a few weeks earlier. Where she was still recovering from that experience, she wondered if Leonardo would want her to return to learning the arts again once she had healed. So far, she had escaped such training after she found herself pregnant with Mindy more than four years earlier - and she was not the least bit disappointed, either!

Still, the time spent under Leo's critical eye had unnerved the girl quite a bit and she wasted not a word in stating so to her husband.

"Why does he have to be so – intrusive about it, though?" she had complained, "Why can't your father let me work my own problems out?"

Seth had only shrugged as he explained, "Just Father's way to get you out of denial, to face your issues as soon as possible. Dad's only doing what he feels he has to, Gabs, to help you." Seth had sighed then and took his wife in his arms, "He knows you've been struggling through the aftermath, the way everyone has, but you seem to be having a harder time of it."

Gabby knew her husband was right. After the rescue team returned with Don, it bothered her greatly to see Seth so cut up the way he was. For Mindy's sake, though, Gabriella stifled her own cries, not wanting her daughter to become overly worried. It was enough that Min noticed her father's 'boo boos', as she called them, and that Seth was upright and vertical and talking coherently. The injuries were minor, compared to Don's, and Gabby was grateful her husband was alive and had returned in one piece.

And, it was imagining the kind of fighting he had to do to justify his wounds that had started Gabby's nightmares, too.

Of course, with everyone's injuries and then Rama's presumed death, it only added to her anxiety. How Rahab, Gaele, and Riahna could just carry on afterwards without appearing profoundly affected caused Gabby to pull into herself. Yes, they grieved collectively for losing the kunoichi; where they had begun to accept her as part of the family – and more so where Devon had fallen in love with Rama.

Still, Gabby hadn't wanted to draw attention to herself, to act as if Seth's injuries mattered more to her than Devon's loss did for him. Where her own mother seemed to take things in stride, too, concerning Don – and his injuries were far more grievous than Seth's or anyone else's - Gabby felt she should behave appreciatively.

And she was appreciative, but it was the unknown, once again, that caused her to tremble at night. She would wake up drenched in nervous sweat, only to slip out of bed to cry alone in the bathroom. She didn't know if Seth had sensed her distress or not, for he never asked or challenged her about it, and it was this, too, that made things worse for her. It caused Gabby to wonder a great deal about how her own husband felt towards her, now.

What made it worse, though, was that Gabby had yet to forgive Rama for her attack on her mother, CassieNow that the kunoichi was dead - that is if the blast had indeed killed her, Gabby had lost the opportunity to make things right between them again.

……………

It was a month later that Gabby now found herself sitting before Leo once again, as she had every morning since he had begun requesting her presence. The two of them had just finished a short time of meditation - or prayer, which Gabby preferred doing rather than meditating the way Leo did.

As they ended their quiet time, she tried to prepare herself for his forthcoming instruction, trying to quell her wish to be anywhere but where she was.

She watched Leonardo as he studied her. His steady penetrating gaze making her feel small and vulnerable, as it always did. The way Leo looked at her told Gabby it was as if he saw an enervating 'weed' of weakness just waiting to be uprooted.

It also it seemed to her that Leonardo was more than willing to do the plucking, too.

"Gabby, I have learned you have been having nightmares," Leo stated. He watched her as her countenance hardened from his comment, her mental wall rising up again and closing off her emotions. Leo sighed, tired of her games, tired of trying to get Gabriella to tell him what was really bothering her without directly asking her. He was certainly tired of her skirting the issues with simple and uninformative answers.

So far, she had been quite resistant with previous sessions and so his patience had worn thin.

It was now time to 'cut to the chase', to ask directly.

"Have you or have you NOT been having nightmares, Gabby?" he asked sternly.

As she weighed Leonardo's question, Gabby suddenly realized that Seth must have told him about what had happened the day before, where she had broken down crying. It was obvious to her Leonardo knew about it and was just waiting for her to open up on her own.

For a moment, she bristled with resentment.

Just the same, she was aware that Leo was gauging her emotions, too, and so she could only shrug as she replied, "A few, yes, but not that many." With her voice as calm as she could make it, she reasoned, "I'm sure it can't be helped. After all, I worried a lot about Seth when he and everyone else were out rescuing Don. I worried about all of you, in fact." She swallowed and took a quick breath, "But, when Seth returned to the ryu and I saw his injuries, and then Don's, and everyone else's, not to mention finding out that Rama had died…something like that is bound to…cause a few bad dreams," and then she added, straightening almost as a challenge, "How can anyone not have nightmares, Leo?"

Leo chose to dismiss her offensive posturing, where she was offering offered more of herself now, than she had before. He rewarded her by not challenging her attitude, so he concurred, "In part, Gabriella, I agree." He paused and then said, "Yet, everyone else has dealt with the aftermath and are moving on – even Riahna." He tilted his head to her, "So it begs me to ask why you have not."

"What makes you think I haven't?" she replied tersely.

Having all he could do to keep from rolling his eyes in exasperation, Leo countered, "Because – you've been having nightmares, Gabby. No one else is, only you!"

Leo maintained a steady eye upon her, studying Gabby intently, and waiting for her to open up to him.

Gabriella felt the strength of his observation, too. She took a breath to steel herself against it, knowing what he was trying to do. Worse still, she knew he knew she was faking her confidence, and so, she tried to bring her wall up once again.

And, she failed miserably with that as well. She realized it the moment she saw the faintest of smiles spread along Leonardo's face.

"You have not recovered, Gabby, despite your assurances to the contrary. There is more to your problem than what you want to admit, isn't there?" he asked her, quirking one eye-ridge wisely.

Now, Gabriella looked away, almost instinctively. Yes, there was more – much more – but she would not divulge it here, not where Leo had the means to test and challenge every fear and paranoia she owned. There wouldn't be any escape for her from his scrutiny if she did open up and in the way that he wanted her to.

No, she promised herself, he would never learn about her inner agony.

Yet, as with all things under Leonardo's keen observations, she failed that fight as well.

His face suddenly softened compassionately as he asked, "How long have you been having these anxiety attacks, Gabriella?"

It was then Leonardo felt the tremor in her soul, the unbridled fear in her heart. Her fleeting yet overwhelming sense of helplessness ebbed and flowed, like waves crashing against the shoreline, eating away at her resolve, her confidence, and her peace. It was tumultuous and terrifying and, in that moment, it surprised Leo he had not noticed it before.

Although she had yet to perfect it – with her more volatile feelings far too easy for him to discern - Leo realized in sudden epiphany that Gabby had found a way to hide her emotions. If not for Seth telling him the evening before about her nightmares, about her reluctance to talk to about them, Leo would have been unaware.

Over the past month, his concern for the clan's safety and his brother's recovery had taken precedence. Those concerns had obviously distracted Leo from Gabriella's inner struggles.

As it was, though, in the beginning, Leonardo had dismissed her fluctuating emotions as nothing more that post trauma stress. She had not only just escaped a brutal assault with her daughter, but had given birth to Jordan soon after and a few weeks prematurely, too. Although the boy was perfectly fine, Leo knew that Gabby – and Seth - had been worried, and although their fears proved unfounded, they were genuine concerns nonetheless.

Add to that the rescue mission where she could only imagine the dangers and horrors the team experienced, it wasn't any surprise that she would be affected in some way.

However, after Don's rescue, Leonardo had been pleased to see Gabby delve into raising his grandchildren. The love she showed them satisfied Leo that Gabby's emotional turmoil was just an expression of her worry for her children and nothing more.

Yet, as time went by, her frequent and unannounced exploration of the expansive estate had piqued his curiosity. Leo would have shadowed her, too, to find out what she was doing, but he had other duties that demanded his attention.

Nevertheless, he knew that her mysterious sojourns concerned his son. The way Gabby would just 'leave', not telling anyone where she was going or even announcing that she was leaving, worried him. Leo realized that there wasn't any way for Gabriella to escape the ryu, nor – he believed - would she want to, considering what happened the last time she left the clan without notice.

In either case, he understood that, even though Gabby would not want to leave, she was still trying to run away.

Leonardo was fully aware of the many secluded spot to meditate or pray in and not be disturbed – or even found. After all, the ryu was expansive in size. It encompassed hundreds of acres with numerous places of serenity and peace for those needing it, where one could find balance in their lives.

And, as Leonardo focused on Gabriella's emotions, as he studied her physical reactions a little more, in that moment he realized that she had been trying to find hers.

It was all too obvious to the master, now, that she had failed to do so, too.

"My child, you do not have to suffer alone," Leo offered kindly.

"You – you could not understand, Leonardo," Gabby insisted as gently as she could. She knew to hide anything from him, now, was a fool's folly. He was fully in-tune with her; of that, she was aware. She looked up at her father-in-law and quickly bowed her head, almost in shame. She swallowed back her fear and wondered if now would be a good time to admit her inner battle. She was tired of fighting it, tired of enduring the pain, tired of not feeling better. She was certain Leo knew she was battling something overwhelming.

With a shuddered breath, she blurted out in a rush, "Everything that I have done, everything done to me, you could not possibly understand what I am feeling or what I've been through!" She heaved a heavy breath and had all she could do to keep from getting up and running away. But she stayed where she was, knowing the futility of doing otherwise, because Leo would eventually catch up with her.

And the next morning would find her sitting before him again, anyway.

Leo sat there and studied Gabby. He smiled a little, sensing her self-control. Then, he allowed, "You – are correct, Gabriella, but do not think that because I have never done what you have done, that I do not feel empathy for you." He felt her emotions tremble, "Your recent actions have been forgiven; please understand this, Gabriella. Also, the young man responsible for raping you years ago has been taken care of, as you know." He smiled a little wider, "And Mindy is a wonderful child! Despite the circumstances of her conception, she has brought a joy to the family that I hoped would have overshadowed how she came to be."

Nodding in unusual meek agreement, Gabby sniffed, her emotions almost bubbling over. Still, she kept her head bowed.

Leo leaned forward and gently touched her shoulder, "You cannot live in your past, my daughter. Continuing to do so will only make your present and your future more difficult to find."

Instant indignation filled her. Gabby felt truly insulted. To have someone, even Leo, trivialize her experiences the way he seemed to be doing now, angered her.

She snapped her head up and glared at Leonardo, "Words do little to change what happened, Leonardo. They cannot keep me from remembering!" She huffed, "You sit there on your pillow and preach to me, when I'm the one suffering? Words are all that you are telling me, and – as you should know, Leo - words cannot - move - mountains!"

Leonardo took his hand from Gabby's shoulder and sat hard on his pillow, straightening authoritatively, "I do not presume that my words will instantly heal your emotional turmoil, Gabriella! To assume such would make me - a fool!" He narrowed his expression a bit, "But I will expect you to meet with me every morning AND, now, every evening from this moment on. During that time, you will meditate with me and open your heart and mind, so that I may help guide you to an inner peace."

She seethed, not cowed in the least, "You cannot help me find inner peace when you've never been to my personal hell,"

"A hell that you are in part responsible for?" he queried sarcastically, raising one eye ridge as a challenge, "and one that you have yet to forgive yourself from? I would think with your Christian faith, you would have found it by now, that Seth would have shown you where in the Bible you can find such solace." Leo studied Gabriella as she looked at him, her expression wavering, as he added, "I may have to speak with him, in fact, to see why he could not help you." He saw her eyes tear up then, one lone drop finding release as it coursed down her cheek.

With a voice nearly choking with emotion, Gabby replied softy as she hung her head, "Leonardo, Seth – does not know."

"You – have not told him how you have been feeling?" Leo knew this, but he also knew she had to admit it.

Gabby only shook her head 'no'.

"Then you must!"

"I can't, Leo," Gabby declared, her voice breathless, "We've…we've never talked about what I've done. After Don's kidnapping, Seth's never – had time to say anything to me. And we have been too worried about other things since then, too busy raising and caring for our children." Now bolder, her voice rose in intensity as she rushed her words, "I can't – talk about IT with him, what I DID, why I did it, what almost happened, I can't even…"

Leo cut her off with a raised hand, "Quiet, please, Gabriella." He saw how heavy she breathed, as if she had just finished a marathon. She sat there, spent, harried, and it seemed she was truly suffering. He could easily sense her trepidation, the fear in her heart, and her insecurity about 'something'. He knew she had to end this self-loathing.

It was then that he understood and it nearly shocked him.

"You are afraid…that Seth may not love you as much as he once did?"

Gabby's eyes widened and she sucked in a breath. In that moment, she confirmed to Leo what he had just realized. The tears once unbidden now fell freely from her eyes and streamed down her face. She huddled into herself, now, chin to chest, wrapping her arms tightly around her torso, and sobbing as the weight of her deepest fear overwhelmed her.

Leo quickly stood up from his pillow. As he stepped off the dais, he bent down and gathered Gabriella into his arms, forcing her to stand with him. He pressed her to his plastron, his forehead leaning against hers, "Never, ever believe that my son could stop loving you. No one in this family can, Gabby." He felt her collapse submissively, into his embrace and cry into his shoulder as he continued to hold her securely. Leo placed a hand along her back, caressing it, as he went on to say, "Yes, you are still stubborn – and probably will continue to be. What you did in California caused us much grief, but that grief has turned to joy because we have you back."

He pulled away from her, then, "You are like a prodigal daughter, Gabriella. You are important to us and not because you can have children. You are important…" Leo cupped her chin to tilt her head up so that she would look at him. He smiled at her, "because you are family."

- - - - - - -

Had things continued the way they did then, more than ever Gabby felt Leonardo would not have sent her back to Mike's estate in California. Maybe, just maybe, she would have finally understood the things Leo was trying to teach her, too.

However, that was not what happened.

Like ice under a hot desert sun, the comforting memory of Leonardo's words and hugs melted away when she thought of Devon. Gabby gripped at the armrests of the rocker again with both hands, but released them quickly and realized she desperately needed a cup of tea.

Gabriella angrily stood up from the chair to leave the room. The last thing she wanted was her brooding dark mood to disturb Jordan's sleep. She quickly walked over to the doorway, switched on the monitor, and quietly left her son to his dreams.

After gently closing the door behind her, Gabby slipped downstairs to the main foyer, beyond which lay the kitchen.

Rather than returning to her own smaller house with Jordan, Gabby had decided early on to stay in Mike and Rahab's larger one. The fact that Seth still remained in Japan made her uneasy to be by herself in their home out back. In fact, she had moved into the same bedroom at the top of the stairs she had used when Don had brought her out to California the first time. The only difference was she shared the room with Jordan, now, his nursery no more than a corner where she had set up his crib and other baby things.

Nevertheless, her situation still seemed all too familiar to her with what happened during arrival years earlier. She was not very cooperative then, either. As she stepped down the stairs, she chuckled to herself a bit, the memory allowing a brief interval from her discontent. "Yes, I guess I still have a lot to learn."

Even though that was over four years earlier, thinking about that time made her more melancholy. Her grief was still quite fresh from losing her surrogate father. Despite how long it had been, she still missed him terribly and wanted more, now than before, Perry's soft, fleshy hugs and his gentle baritone voice. The Professor could always calm her volatile moods, even when she was mad at him.

So much different from Raphael, she thought.

Even though she knew her birth father only sounded gruff, he actually was kind – unless he was pissed off at someone.

And that thought caused Gabby to shiver just a bit, as she remembered how angry he had been with her for trying to run away. He had waited until she was home from the hospital with Jordan, though, even giving her a few days to settle in.

Yet, Gabby would never forget how intimidated and fearful she felt, her father's face nose to nose with hers, as he yelled at her.

He was so close to her, she was certain she could smell his lunch from the day before.

The strange thing was, though, he didn't yell loudly at her. Yet for all intense and purposes, he might as well have for the affect it had on Gabby.

And Raphael's posturing was what had kept her rebellious heart in line, too, that is until the confrontation with Devon regarding Mindy.

Sighing, now, Gabriella knew she most definitely needed a cup of tea, a cup of Leo's tea, actually. It relaxed her, more so than the store brand could. Of course, thinking about the unique properties of the brew only reminded her, once again, of what happened six months earlier.

It also brought back many other unsettling memories, as well – namely Ramiela.

It seemed that no matter where Gabby's mind wandered these days, it always recalled the events surrounding that strange kunoichi's visit. For a moment, Gabriella allowed a bit of sympathy for her brother's loss, but only for a moment. She was still quite angry with him for what had happened in Japan with Mindy.

In any event, as Gabby stepped off the staircase and walked towards the kitchen, she noticed Rahab was already there.

Her mother-in-law sat on one of the stools by the breakfast bar, sipping at a mug of something hot, as tendrils of steam rose from her cup. She had both elbows resting on the tile counter of the bar, grasping the mug with both hands, as she savored its aroma.

Rahab took a sip from her cup when she saw her daughter-in-law walk into the kitchen. She said nothing, at first, but watched Gabby as the girl went over to the stove. Rahab waited, as her daughter-in-law turned on the burner for the teakettle in order to re-heat the water.

Then, as Gabby sighed a little and stood there, waiting, Rahab swallowed and asked, "Jordy's asleep?"

Gabby replied dispassionately without looking up, "Yeah." She remained standing by the stove, watching as the flames licked along the bottom side of the teakettle. Without meaning to, she sighed again.

Her interest piqued, Rahab asked, "Something the matter, Gabby?" and took another sip of her beverage.

Her daughter-in-law did not acknowledge her at first, but then, "No, guess not…" Then, Gabby turned teary eyes towards the woman and said with finality, "well, yes, but there's little I can do about it." She then gave an all-too familiar lopsided grin, dismissing her comment a little.

It caused Rahab to suck in a breath. "So much like her father at times," the woman mused to herself.

Gabby remarked, then, nodding towards the woman's lethal-looking claws, "Luck of the draw for you, already armed and ready!"

Absentmindedly, Rahab clicked her fingernails against her cup, her talons chinking noisily against the ceramic. She shrugged her shoulders, "Just the way it is, Gabs," and watched as the girl went to fetch a similar mug from a cupboard.

After Gabby prepared the tea ball with tealeaves and placed the strainer into her mug, and when the teakettle announced its readiness, she then poured in the hot water and waited for her tea to steep. She sighed again, trying to ignore Rahab, as the woman watched her.

Although Mike's wife felt badly for her, Rahab fully understood not only Gabby's situation, but Leo's, too.

"Gabby," she said, "You know he had to do it."

The girl's head snapped up, a flash of anger blooming instantly to her eyes. Gabriella glared at her mother-in-law, "No, he did NOT!"

"Gabby…" Rahab challenged her, her voice soft yet stern. However, Gabby cut her off.

"Leonardo did NOT have to do anything, Rahab, he could have just let it go; Leo could have dismissed it. I would have spent every hour of every day with him in meditation, in fact, if he had asked for it, rather than sending me home the way he did. Devon was more wrong in not paying attention to what Mindy was doing, what she was capable of doing!" Gabby sucked in a deep breath as her anger grew, yet she still attempted to control it. "She could have been seriously hurt, Rahab. I had every right to challenge him!"

Gabby knew it wasn't fair to drag the woman into this issue; after all, her mother-in-law had been very accommodating at the time – and since then, too. Rahab had even tried defending Gabby, speaking to Leo and thereby curtailing any discipline he might have had planned for his daughter-in-law.

And, who knows what would have happened if Rahab had not persuaded him, too, Gabriella thought. Maybe Leo would have taken the baby, as well, if only to make sure Jordan grew up under the tutelage of his ninja grandfather. "It's just SO unnecessary to send me back home," she griped, "and to keep my daughter captive in Japan the way Leo's doing!".

"He's not keeping her captive, Gabby!" Rahab insisted impatiently.

"Yes he is! He's doing the same thing with Mindy as he did with Seth years ago. He's holding her ransom, hoping that by doing so, I'll cow to him, that I'll cooperate!" Gabby seethed, "He's being overbearing – AGAIN!"

Rahab rolled her eyes and her tail twitched in irritation. She could only say, however, "Gabby, you know you were out of line with what you did."

"No, I was not and from what I understand about you, Rahab," she seethed, "when you were raising your kids, you got away with a whole lot more than I did!" Gabby did not notice Rahab is warning expression as she continued, "From what Father told me, you even attacked Mike with those – those claws of yours, even ripping Leo at one time!" She narrowed her expression, "And Leonardo didn't take your kids away, now did he?"

When she saw Rahab's eyes brighten in resentment, the girl regretted her words, "I'm sorry, Rahab, I – I really am…" she sighed, almost crying, leaning her elbows on the counter and burying her face in her hands. "I…I just – miss them all – so - very much, and it's all so unnecessary," she moaned through her fingers, her voice muffled. She swallowed back a sob and then dropped her hands. Roughly, Gabby retracted the tea ball from her mug and dropped it into the sink next to it, the strainer's light metallic clatter ringing loudly against the sink's stainless steel.

For a moment, it was the only sound in the kitchen.

Then, Rahab sat back in her chair, bit back her ire, and nodded just a little, "Yes, you are right, Gabby I did – do all of that." She swallowed and recalled, "I remember telling Mike, years ago when I was still married to your father, that I did not want Gaele trained. Mike promised me he wouldn't, that I didn't have to worry about it. But after the attack in New York and at the home in Mojave, and then seeing the aftermath when your father and uncles went off to fight against that enemy of theirs in Japan - back when Devon was first born - I realized then that even if my kids never went to war, they needed to know how to defend themselves." She sipped at her mug, thoughtfully watching her daughter-in-law as the girl drank from her own cup of tea.

When Gabby refused to look up at her, to acknowledge her words, Rahab added then, her voice soft and compassionate, "I would think, Gabby, with Don's kidnapping and all that you've experienced before then…that you would be more willing to comply with Leonardo's decision."

Gabby remained silent, rather than replying in the way she had been doing. She knew that her mother-in-law was right. Still, there was something causing the girl to bridle against such topics as ninjitsu, such people as Leonardo. Yes, maybe he was right about how stubborn she could be - an awful trait, in her opinion, that she had obviously inherited from her father and maybe even her mother.

How she wished she could just let things go and quit being so obstinate

As she thought about it, maybe she would have to end up accepting ninjitsu as part of clan tradition, the way Raphael explained to her during the flight home. He had told her then, that teaching such things to children born into it was almost unavoidable and considering how different they were from the world at large, Gabby realized that maybe it was something they had to do in order to stay safe.

Gabby realized she would have been more agreeable with it, too, if not for the fact that Leo had insisted Devon be Mindy's sensei! She felt at the time, though, that to employ someone obviously too consumed with his own grief, such as Devon was concerning Rama, seemed inappropriate, especially with an inquisitive and provocative child as Mindy. Gabby knew her daughter very well and knew how curious – and, not too surprising, how stubborn – the child could be.

"It's just wrong. Leo or Seth – or even Father, should be her sensei!" Gabby grumbled silently. "They aren't burden with losing someone!"

Gabby just sighed, though, realizing her argument with Rahab had been a waste of time. She continued sipping at her tea, however, now silent and brooding.

Finally, Rahab offered, "It's only for a little while, Gabs. Once Devon establishes himself as Mindy's sensei, once she sees him as an authority over her, Leo will send them both home, along with Seth."

"And so long as I learn to accept things, I suppose," Gabby said as she lifted her chin a little, almost defiantly, as she continued to stare into her mug of tea. She allowed its steam to caress her face, as she watched the tiny specks of tealeaves swirl in a circle, moved along by the warm currents of her beverage.

"That would help," Rahab smiled wryly, "and Leo did say they would be home for Christmas!"

Just imagining her family not home by then almost overwhelmed Gabby with feelings of despair. Not only was that holiday her most favorite, but it would be hers and Seth's fifth anniversary, too.

A sudden swelling of anger now filled her as she thought about it and she remarked with much determination. "They had better be home by then!"