A/N: Okay, I took longer than I thought, but here's the epilogue! A warning: Lots of mush, and it goes a bit farther than before, so if you get easily squeamish (like me)watch out! It was hell to write, though, and CPQ had to do most of it, (thankies chica!) so I hope y'all like it! Reviews are, as always, muchly appreciated.
To Reijiro: Just so you know I didn't ignore your review, most of the things you mentioned will be cleared up in a later Secrets fic. They won't be left forgotten in a corner collecting virtual dust - they'll just take a while to have a satisfactory outcome. This epilogue focuses more on Raph and Akasha, but it does tell ya what happened after they escaped the fishpeople.
Ugh, I'm rambling... on with the fic!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ninja Turtles.
Hidden Truth
Epilogue
The radio buzzed merrily as the announcer stated the upcoming weather: sunshine and lots of it!
"Yes, Dan, we can expect a lot of beach weather for the week!" the overly cheerful announcer chimed in after the ads were over. "Lots of folks hitting the road for holidays, so be sure to check our traffic report at our website, it's updated every two hours! I'm Bob Guire, and now you're up to date!"
Akasha sighed and plonked her finger on the 'off' button on her clock radio. Her suitcase, half unpacked, lay on her bed, various items of clothing that had almost made it to her chest of drawers strewn on the covers around it. She folded a pair of shorts and put them on the pile that lay beside her then reached for the pink bathing suit. She smiled crookedly at its cotton-candylike colour and smoothed her thumb along the seam, feeling the label crinckle. She stowed it in her drawer.
As she worked, she drifted back to their escape from Shrak's cave that had taken place only a few days ago. It seemed like years now.
They had hastened back to the cabin, to find Mark and Nicolas just returning from a desperate search of the lake and surrounding woodland. Mark hugged Naomi fiercely and ushered her inside before she 'caught her death of cold'. There they found Don and Sarah in conversation in the living room. None of the adults seemed the least perturbed by Leo, Raph and Mikey, but Jordan seemed a little wary, and stuck close to her father and her sister. Little Emily seemed quite fine with the terrapins, and Bailey paraded around the cottage, barking and wagging his tail.
Akasha dried herself off and got changed, and had a mug of tea pushed into her hands by Nicolas, who seemed eager to help in any way he could. The turtles were given fuzzy, mismatched blankets, for they were all shivering violently, though none of them would complain. Raph's leg was examined and resplinted. They had to recount the entire episode of their escape at least three times before they could have any peace. Naomi told of how she had been kept in a separate chamber four times, for Akasha and the turtles had not heard of that either.
The next day had been a hectic one. There was a frenzy of fevered packing and running all about the place in search of anything that could have been left behind. The entire family had decided it simply wasn't safe to stay there any longer, that year at least. They were taking everything with them – even the Blue Heron was recovered from the woods, pulled ashore and tied to the roof of Mark's van. They managed to fit almost everything into either the van or Sarah's Jeep, and what they could not manage were locked up in the outhouse or in the wood shed, where people wouldn't think to look.
At last they packed everyone into the remaining space in the vehicles and drove away. Mark, Naomi, Jordan, Akasha and the turtles just fit in the van, squeezed in between the pockmarked multi-coloured pool noodles, the paddles and the huge stack of assorted pots and crockery. Sarah, Nicolas and Emily fit nicely into the Jeep, and what little extra room there was was filled with random items, everything from a cupful of cutlery to Nicolas's fossil collection. Bailey, who had unfortunately been unable to fit in the van, lay panting on half the Jeep's back seat next to a box of packaged food, tongue lolling out in the June heat.
Lily had been called and had come to pick Akasha up, white-faced and panic-stricken. She wept the whole time she was there; Akasha's near-fatal encounter with the fishpeople had stirred up opressed memories of her husband's death.
Akasha finished stacking socks in her drawer and pushed it shut with her foot. She turned and was about to draw the lid of the suitcase closed when she felt a bulge in one of the pockets. Unzipping it she found the old rotting backpack. It had been shoved here without a second thought after the excitement of their return. Upon further inspection, she found to her dismay that most of its contents had been lost somewhere in the cave. She shook her head; she wasn't really surprised. The only thing that had survived their flight was the old battered tape recorder. She turned it over in her hands. The small triangular clear plastic window was scatched badly, but she could make out the shadow of a tape inside.
Under whimsical inclination, Akasha tried to pry the front of the tape recorder open with her fingernails, but it was stuck. With a half-hearted shrug she set it aside on her bedside table and folded the backpack up, sticking it under her bed. She let the flap on her suitcase fall shut and propped it against the wall, sat on her bed. She felt perhaps drained, certainly tired. She rubbed her temples.
Tap tap.
Jerking her head up, Akasha relaxed with a wry smile.
"Come in, Raph."
With more difficulty and several more colourful oaths than usual, the red-clad ninja entered through the window, sporting a bandaged leg and crutches.
"How did you manage to get up here?" Akasha asked incredulously, eyeing his crutches. "You can use the door you know. My mom doesn't mind."
"Habit. Ninja's don't use the front door." Raph cursed as he almost tripped over his crutches. "I can't train for weeks! My sai's are getting rusty!" He sat dejectedly on the bed beside her.
"I'm sure you'll be back in the dojo soon," Akasha grinned. "Even ninjas need rest occasionally."
"Hmph." Raph toyed with his bandaged leg, face sullen and brooding. "I came here to get away from Leo," he confessed after a moment. "He's been on to me all the time, telling me to rest, not to move, to sit down and not do anythin'! He's been breathing down my neck since we got back from Canada."
"He can be extremely annoying when he wants to be," agreed Akasha. "I'm surprised he didn't follow you here!"
"He tried to," Raph said grimly. "I told him that if he did I'd stick my sai somewhere painful."
Akasha received a graphic mental image at this charming analogy, and snorted loudly into her hands. Raph broke down and chuckled with her.
"He was actually still going to come, but sensei told 'im ta lay off. I still can't believe he let me come."
Splinter had come back from the Battle Nexus the day after they had returned, and had listened with mild concern to their exciting tale. He had dished out extra chores for all his sons as punishment for disobeying his direct orders, and forbade them to leave the lair for two weeks on any errand other than a patrol. This was received with cries of dismay from Mikey, quiet acceptance from Leo and Don, and steamy defiance from Raph, who despite his bad leg had been determined to visit Akasha. He had planned to sneak out to see her, but to his astonishment, when Splinter had found out he had excused him for a while to go. Leonardo had been shocked of course, but had not attempted to follow him after that.
"What's this?" Raph had set his crutches on the bedspread and had picked up the tape recorder, examining it.
"Oh, it's from that old backpack I found," Akasha said, scratching her nose. "Everything else got lost along the way. I suppose we were too busy concentrating on getting out to notice."
"Huh." He set it on the table again. "So it belonged to one of your family that got taken by the fishpeople?" His eyes were soft as he glanced at her. It was a sore subject.
"I think so." Akasha eyed her lap, chewing her lip thoughtfully. "There's no proof, of course. There might have been something in the book – there was a journal in the bag. But it got lost…" she sighed and flicked a strand of hair over her shoulder. "Of all the things to not fall out! I bet it's broken, or scratched. I can't even get it open." She gestured to the tape recorder with a grumble.
Raph put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "Have you told your mom?"
"No, I don't want her to freak out, or go into another depression by bringing up old memories." Akasha sighed, leaned her head against his shoulder. After a moment Raph let out a sad sigh.
"You really scared me back there, y'know. When ya stayed behind in the pod."
"Oh, well, it had to be done –" she was cut off as Raph turned his head to the side and pressed his lips against hers.
"What was that for?" she asked, surprised by the sudden, open show of affection.
"It had to be done," he stated simply.
"Oh really?" she asked, raising a delicate eyebrow. Swiftly she kissed his mouth, wrapping both arms around his neck. Raph complied willingly, wrapping his other arm around her waist, moving his hand up and down her back. They pulled back for air before Akasha moved in to kiss him again.
Raph's Shell Cell suddenly began to ring, making them both jump and blush. Raph, embarrassed, picked it up hurriedly and hit the 'talk' button.
"Hello?"
"Raph?" Leo's voice asked. "Why aren't you home yet? It's been half an hour!"
Raph scowled. "Why do I hafta be home now? Las' time I checked ya weren't my babysitter, Leo!"
Leo gave an exasperated sigh. "Just be back soon, or I'm coming to find you." The line clicked dead. Raph ground his teeth and slammed the phone shut.
"What was that about?" Akasha asked, tucking her feet under herself on the bed. Raph rolled his eyes and turned to her.
"Nothing important."
Akasha kissed him again, a peculiar melting sensation filling her stomach. Raph returned the gesture with a little more gusto than before and when the pulled back for air he had her pinned on the bed. When they finally came back to earth, it took a minute for them to fully assess the situation before flushing simultaneously at their inopportune position. However Raph did not draw back. He panted for breath, face still inches from Akasha's. He blinked then slowly sat back, wincing as his bad leg throbbed.
Akasha stayed still in her position, still half-beneath him.
"I, uh, I guess I'd better… um… go then," Raph mumbled, his cheeks flushing a darker shade of red. Akasha only nodded dumbly in response. Raph slowly stood up, leaving Akasha in her prone position on the bed. They stayed in their respective postures for a few moments, not really knowing what to say. Finally Akasha broke the silence by hesitently sitting up.
"It's a good thing we're not in the lair," she said, a small smile tugging on the corners of her mouth.
"Huh?" Raph looked utterly confused.
"Well, if we were in your room, someone could burst in at any moment, and I doubt we'd hear the end of it from whoever walked in."
Raph stared at her in disbelief before a smile spread across his beak. Eventually he started to chuckle, which turned into full-out laughter.
"Can ya imagine th' look on their faces if they caught us?" he managed as he cracked up. Akasha joined him, thankful that all awkwardness was gone.
After a few moments the laughter subsided, and Raph sighed heavily.
"I guess I'd better go before 'Fearless shows up."
"Yeah I guess," Akasha responded, disappointed he had to leave so soon.
"I'll try an' stop by again sometime," he said as he moved toward the window, "If Leo lets me outta his sight." Akasha smiled gravely and got up, walking over to him.
"Don't let him bother you too much," she advised. "He's only looking out for you." Raph nodded absently.
"I'll see ya 'round, Ash," he said as he made his way painfully out the window, crutches under one arm. On impulse Akasha ran over to it and poked her head out of the open window.
"Raph?" she called.
"Yeah?"
"If you need me for anything, just call."
There wasn't an answer, but she was sure he had heard.
The End
A/N: Okay. There you have it. Enough mush? Not enough? Too much? Lemme know! Oh, and just so you know, the entire fic revolves around Akasha finding the tape recorder. (ducks flying projectiles) I know, I know! Lame! I made a fic out of what could have been done in a footnote! But oh well... heheh... (shifty eyes)
And a colossol thankyou to all who reviewed:
Aaron Smiley, Reijiro, BubblyShell22, Liz-Sakura, andvirtual wenrog! You guys arethe best!And thanks to anyone who read, although reviews are good too:-D
Well that's it from me.You'll have to wait for anotherfic!'Cause I know you're all just dying for a sequel! ;-p
Till then, then,
D'fly Rider
