"Jade." Raph quickly went over to her and she flinched, backing away. "Careful! It's alright..." she was now extremely close to the edge.
"Raphael..." Jade said again and slowly got up. "Is it really you?"
"Yeah... yeah it is." He went over to her and knelt down to help her up. She unsteadily got to her feet, or rather, paws and held on to Raph's arms for support.
"I'm sorry; I'm not exactly used to this new body yet." Jade let go as she regained her balance and then looked to meet Raph's eyes. "Heh, I forgot how green your eyes were." She said and smiled.
"I didn't forget yours." He said and gave a nervous chuckle. "How, uh, how've you been?"
"Well, it was alright, for the most part. I haven't gotten mugged again. I guess they learned their lesson about trying to beat me up." Jade chuckled and Raph did too.
"Ha, yeah, there's always back-up nearby!" Raph smiled and shifted his weight. "So, how long's it been now, four, five months?" he asked, "You know, since the mugging?" Jade sighed and turned around, gesturing with a head nod to follow. She sat on the edge of the building, her legs dangling down.
"Something like that…" Jade said as Raph came and sat down close beside her. "It seems like years since that happened, but I've seen you guys around when I go up to the roof at night."
"Huh, some ninjas we are, can't even stay hidden." Raph jokingly said.
"Ha, yeah, nice going." She gently punched him and he chuckled and punched her back. It got quiet and Raph decided to mention the one fact that was a bit hard to ignore.
"So, last night… I didn't realize that was you." Jade's light smile slowly faded as she looked downwards. She didn't say anything, which made Raph worry. "I mean, in the middle of all the craziness, I didn't have time to recognize any human faces, just Kraang freaks." He tried to explain. "I really didn't mean to let this happen to you… I'm really sorry." There was more silence for a while, then Jade took deep breath.
"It wasn't your fault… you were just doing your job and keeping priorities as priorities… it's just… I can't go back to my normal life anymore.." Her voice began to crack and tears began to form in her eyes as a mixture of sadness and frustration took over. "My family is locked up, there's no telling where my mother is, if she's even alive. The Foot is forcing me to work for them!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slowdown. What happened? The Foot, your family.. This all happened in one night?"Raph began to look concerned and irritated. "What did Shredder do to you?" Jade sighed a shaky sigh and stood up.
"He kidnapped them. Except for my mother. I'm not sure where she is... But maybe we can find out." Raph stood up and faced her.
"We?" He asked and Jade met his eyes with as she wiped her tears away.
"Yeah, we. I may need backup. I'm going back to my apartment, maybe there's something there that can help lead us to my mom." Raph nodded quickly and got into a stance to show that he was ready to go.
"Of course I'll help! Let's go now!" Jade smiled softly at Raph and then it faded as she looked to the next building.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Jade then took a few steps back and ran. she launched herself onto the rooftop while Raph followed close behind her.
Half an hour passed with not many words passed around between Jade and Raphael. They made it to her apartment and found the fire escape that opened up into her room. She manage to open it and without a sound, they both sneaked in.
"Weird.." She said as she looked around in the dim lighting. "Everything is exactly how I left it.." Raph looked around and spotted a terrarium with a dim light shining on it.
"What's that?" He asked and Jade looked over.
"Oh!" She said as a smile can to her face. She ran over, jumping on her bed then jumping off to get around Raph. "Mr. Banana!" She joyfully said. She then turned the brightness on the lamp up a little.
"You have a pet turtle?" Raph said with a slight half smile.
"Yeah! I've had him for years! My whole life basically." She looked at Mr. Banana through the glass, a nostalgic and happy gleam in her eyes.
"Did you come up with that name all by yourself?" Raph asked as her went over to look at the close relative of the red-eared slider.
"Actually, no. It was my friend, Will; we were four years old at the time and he begged for me to keep that name, and I promised I would. And so I did." Her smile slightly faded as she remembered her three close friends. "I hope they're okay.. she said to herself." There was some silence, so Raph looked around and then grabbed little container beside the tank.
"So, this is what you feed your turtle? 'River Shrimp Bites'?" He read aloud with a joking scoff.
"Yeah, he loves shrimp. That and the occasional time I give him krill." She said as she then took it gently and sprinkled some into the tank. She softly smiled as she watched Mr. Banana eat the little dried shrimp bites.
"I had a pet turtle. He loved lettuce. " Raph said and Jade scoffed and slightly laughed.
"A turtle mutant with a pet turtle meets a human girl who also has a pet turtle. What are the odds?" She rhetorically asked.
"Well, if my brother, Donnie, were here, he'd tell you." She looked slightly confused, so Raph explained. "He basically has the brain of a computer." Jade then nodded in understanding.
"Well, while I'm her, I'll just go do the other chores." Jade said as she picked up a dirty t-shirt and tossed it into a hamper across the room. "That takes care of my room." She said then went over to her bedroom door that lead to the hallway. Once she had opened the door, she gasped at what she saw.
"What? What's wrong?" Raph said as he took out his sais and rushed over. "Oh dang.." he said as he saw that every picture was shattered and littered the ground. They walked out of her room. and looked around.
"It's... it's all trashed.." She said as she looked at the disaster. "They wrecked everything..." She went to the living room and saw that their fish tank was cracked and and been leaking like a waterfall. "No!" She quietly shouted as she ran to the kitchen. She grabbed a big glass jar then rushed to the fish tank. She scooped up some water then found a fishing net and caught her four small fish and put them into the jar. "There... hey, can you get me a towel from the bathroom? First door to the left." She said pointing at the hall. Raph nodded and quickly grabbed a few towels. He ran over and put the towels over the spilt water.
"Dang, they really hit everyone..." He said as he helped pick up broken glass from the ground. Jade cleared a spot on the counter and put her fish there and went back to help.
"Thanks, Raphael, I'd hate for my cat to drink any of this fish water. It has softeners and medicine for fish."
"You have a cat too?" Raph asked, trying to pull her attention from how bad the wreckage was, but she looked distraught as she cleaned up her home.
"Yeah.. her name is Chinarose. She's completely black, so careful. Her eyes are greenish-yellow, so you might spot that first." She lighten up slightly but not much.
"Good to know..." Raph said as he continued to cleanup. He found a trash can and stood it up. He dumped all the glass and trash that he had gathered into it. Jade sighed as she stood and looked around.
"Let's... let's go and try to find my mom..." She said softly and began to walk back down the hallway. She went into her parents room and saw that it took was trashed. There was a soft mew heard from behind the bed that was flipped over. Jade ran over and found her cat. "China rose!" She struggled to pick the bed up and Raph came over, helping her to lift it. The cat ran out from underneath the wood frame and mewed loudly in pain as she ran. "No, no, come here." She hissed as Jade ad backed away. Her black fur on her leg and tail was tainted red with blood. "Chinarose, it's me, Jade." She knelt down to her eye level and the cat stopped hissing.
"I'll get another towel." Raph said and ran out of the room. He quickly came back with a red towel and helped to wrap Chinarose in it. "We can take her back to the lair and Donnie and Master Splinter can help fix her up." He said and went over to the window. "My brothers can also help you get your family out." He said as he opened the window and halfway stepped out. Jade continued to sit with her cat in her arms. "Jade?"
"Yeah... yeah, I'm coming..." Raph stayed quiet and sat outside on the fire escape, giving her a moment. "I'll find them, Chinarose, we'll fix you up and we'll come home and everything will go back to normal. I promise." The cat seemed to mew and nod in understanding. Jade stood up and went over to the window, but before she stepped out the cat mewed in urgency and pawed towards the bed. "It's okay, I'll fix it and clean it up later.." The cat mewed louder as she began to walked again. "What?" She asked then went over to the bed. "Okay, I'm here, what?" Chinarose mewed again and her eyes caught the reflection of something. "What the..?" She said as she moved some broken wood and ripped sheets. "Whoa." She said as she picked it up carefully.
"You okay, Jade?" Raph asked as he began to get slightly worried.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She said and went to meet him outside. "Check it out, one of the Foot dropped a katana!" Raph scoffed as she walked out.
"Those idiots." He said then his eyes widened as he saw the katana. "Wait a minute... Can I see that?" He asked and Jade handed it to him. "This... this doesn't belong to the Foot Clan... It belongs to the Hamato Clan..."
A/N: Sorry for the delay! Been busy, as usual. But here it is! Chapter 5! Also, references to the author -me- include the little fish, Mr. Banana and Chinarose. I have a turtle named that in a glass tank and yes, my four year old friends and I named it. And I have a solid black cat named Chinarose. And I have fish. But I also have four other cat's, a beta fish, and a dog named Scruffy! And my grandpa has a dog, and since we live by each other, he might as well be our dog too. Okay, I'm done with my pet shpill.. Have an awesome day/evening/night!
