A Million Miles Apart
A/N: Hi! I'm back! Sorry I'm a bit late with this, but I've been a bit busy in school and this chapter was a little harder to write than I thought it was gonna be.
Okay, let's get this out of the way right now. Some of you might be thinking, Kame, you wonderful storyteller, where are your (P.O.V)'s? How will we know who tells us what happens? Or you may not... Whatever.
Well, person in my head, I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I've decided to remove the (P.O.V)'s altogether and write the chapters without telling you whose eyes we'll be looking through. Now, I will still write through the character's eyes, but I think that the (P.O.V)'s kinda give away a bit and might give you hints as to what kind of chapter it might be, depending on what the character is going through. Plus, I had those point of view things as a way to remind myself of what character I was writing through, when I was still new to writing stories. And maybe as a way to create my own style of writing. Now I feel they have overstayed their welcome and it's time to bid them adieu.
Do you like it with or without them? Please tell me. And I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!
Chapter 43, A Broken Family
"Yes, Dad, I'm okay. No, the Kraang didn't try to capture me, I'm fine, really." I trudged down the stairs and down to the kitchen with my phone sloppily pressed against my ear and cheek. My hair was unbrushed and I hadn't even bothered to put it in my usual ponytail, my eyes half-shut, and I was trying so hard not to hang up on my dad. He had bombarded me with phone calls and messages all night, and I knew when I woke up that I had to call him back, just to make sure he didn't try to fly back to New York to get me. But now I wasn't too sure if it had been such a good idea. The way he was talking you'd think that I was dying in a cold, desolate alley somewhere.
"Are you sure, April? Are you still in the city? Where are you now?" I rolled my eyes and turned on the coffee machine and placed a pot of water on the stove to prepare tea for Master Splinter. I took a quick look at the fridge and when I saw we had very little edible food there, I opened the door to go outside and get some eggs from our the chicken coop in the garden. The grass was wet and stiff with snow and ice, but most of it had melted from the rain and the shining sun.
"Yes, I'm fine, Dad. Casey, the guys, Master Splinter and I are at the farmhouse, far away from the city. The Kraang can't hurt us here, I promise you." I made sure not to mention the Foot clan or that Leo had gotten hurt. That would only freak him out even more. I heard him sigh tiredly.
"I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with you being out there alone, without an adult to look after you, April. Especially someone who's not family." I fought against the urge to groan, put some eggs into a basket and carried it back to the house. 'Note to self: we need to go and find a grocery store later today.'
"Master Splinter is an adult, Dad. And he's a really good parent, you know that. He's treated me like his own daughter since, well, you know, last year. And the guys are here, too. They are part of the family; they will look out for me, you know that. And I've been training in ninjutsu for a little more than year now. I'll be fine." I heard him sigh again and I could practically see him pinch the space between his eyes.
"Well, I guess I can't really argue with that. Just... promise me you'll try and stay out of trouble. Please, April." I sighed and my annoyance ran out of me, and I suddenly remembered how much I missed and loved my dad.
"I promise, Dad. As long as you promise to stay away from New York until the Kraang are gone." He promised and we said a quick goodbye before I hung up. I ran my fingers through my hair and tried to breathe calmly and relieve some of the stress. I hadn't had much time to think about everything that had happened yesterday, due to how much I had tried to help Master Splinter with Leo during the trip or when I had to give Raph directions to the house. But now I really felt the stress and pain catch up with me. What were we gonna do now? After Leo woke up, how long would we stay here? When would we go back? Would Leo even wake up?
I heard the pot on the stove boiling crazily and hurried over to pull it away from the hot plate. I poured the water into a mug and put a chamomile tea bag in there, and left it to cool off a little and let the tea bag flavor the water. After some looking through the cabinets and cupboards, I found the teacups and poured some tea in one cup, put it and the teapot on a tray and carried it into the living room.
Master Splinter was still sitting beside Leo, in a worn out armchair, all tired eyes and droopy ears. His eyes were locked on Leo, who was still asleep and his breathing was uneven. I almost didn't think he noticed I was there, but then reminded myself that he was a master ninja and dismissed that thought. I had no idea what to say or do, so I just walked up to him and gently put the tray on the coffee table in front of him. He looked up and smiled a tired smile at me and his ears perked up a little.
"Good morning, April." I smiled and knelt down in front of him on the floor, beside the couch.
"Good morning, Sensei. I made you some tea. I hope you like chamomile, it was all I could find." His smile widened slightly in gratitude and he took the cup, gently sipping on the still very hot tea. He hummed in delight and looked down at me.
"Thank you, my child. It is very generous of you to let us stay in your home." His smile faded and he looked a little troubled and his ears drooped again. "I... couldn't help but overhear your conversation with your father." I bit my lip and felt my cheeks get a little warmer. I hadn't even considered that Splinter might hear me when I called my father. Or that anyone at all would be awake when I got up. But I shook that feeling of discomfort off and smiled up at Splinter.
"Of course you can stay here. You and the guys are like my family; you're more than welcome in my home." My eyes fell on Leo and I stroked his leg with my hand. "How's Leo doing?" Splinter looked over his son and his eyes grew worried and his ears drooped.
"He has been unconscious all night. His leg is broken and it seems the muscles around his knee are rather bruised. His wounded side does not look infected, which is good, but he is running a small fever. I fear his spirit is more injured than his body." He sighed and sipped on his tea. "I am thankful that you are doing so much for us, my child. " I looked down at the floor and I fingered a hole in the wooden surface.
"It's the least I can do." I said again and had a hard time looking up at Splinter. "Besides, I feel like I owe it to you. I mean, if it wasn't for me, your family wouldn't be so broken right now." His ears once again perked up when I said that, but this time he looked more concerned than anything else.
"Pardon? What do you mean? Why do you feel responsible for what has happened?" I chewed on my lip and tried my hardest to fight back tears. This had been on my mind for months, ever since Donnie had fallen through that portal and seemingly died. I had even had nightmares about it the first few weeks. I had had Donnie's hand in my grip. I had him in my hands. I could have saved him, or at least kept my grip on him until the guys could have done something to help us get away from the portal or turn it off. But I had let go of him. He slipped out of my hands and I couldn't do anything but watch as he fell through the portal and disappeared. And even though no one had said anything about it, I still felt like it was my fault. I had seen the glares Raph sometimes sent my way, and that was all the proof I needed.
"I..." I sighed and looked up at Splinter. "I just feel it was my fault Donnie fell through the portal. I mean, I had him! I could've saved him; I could've done something! But I didn't. I failed him. I failed you, the guys and everyone! I've seen how Raph looks at me, and I know he blames me for it." Master Splinter's eyes widened and I looked down at the floor in shame. Then I felt his hand on my shoulder and it made me look up again.
"April, no one blames you for what happened that day. It wasn't your fault. From what I have been told, there was nothing you could have done to change the outcome. In fact, my sons never once mentioned your name when they told me what happened or said it was your fault, so it is news to me that you feel this way." I blinked away my tears and brushed my hair out of my face, looking down at the floor again.
"B-but why aren't you mad at me? Why? I mean, I could have saved your son! Why are you not mad?" Master Splinter placed one hand under my chin and lifted it so he could look me in the eyes.
"Raphael is not upset with you, my child. He is upset with himself and is trying to find ways to deal with his feelings. He likes to deal with them physically, as you know. But he does not blame you- neither do Michelangelo, Leonardo or I. We know you did everything you could." I shifted my gaze to the legs of a chair.
"Yeah, but I-" I was cut off by the sound of a whimper. Both Splinter and I looked up and towards the couch, where Leo was still lying with his eyes closed. But now he seemed to be having some kind of nightmare. His eyes were tightly shut, he frantically moved his head from side to side and both whimpered and grunted worriedly. Splinter immediately moved closer to Leo and placed his hand on the side of Leo's face. His face was scrunched up in concern for his son.
"His fever is rising. He is most likely having a nightmare because of this." He looked up at me. "April, will you please get me some water and a small towel?" I nodded and ran out into the kitchen, got out a small bowl and filled it with cold water. I then ran into the bottom-floor bathroom and got a small towel from the bathroom cabinet. When I got back to the living room Leo was a little louder and flailing both arms and legs. He seemed to be in some kind of delirious frenzy.
"No, no! Get away! Leave him alone! Stay away from my family!" Splinter had both hands on Leo's shoulders and tried to push him back down on the couch, which proved to be a challenge. Leo was shaking and flailing so much that Splinter had to dodge Leo's limbs while also trying to calm him down.
"Leonardo, you are safe, my son. Calm yourself, you are not in any danger." I kneeled down beside Splinter and handed him the bowl and towel. He grabbed both items without even looking at me and dipped the towel in the cold water before placing it on Leo's warm forehead. Leo jerked wildly when the cold cloth was placed on his head, and for a second it looked like he was trying to shake it off, but it then seemed more like he was still deep in his nightmare. I placed my hand on Leo's cheek and leaned down to whisper in his ear.
"Shh, Leo, it's okay. Everything is okay, calm down. Calm down." His whimpering got a little quieter and it almost sounded like he was crying. I looked up and to my surprise, there were a few small tears running down his cheek.
"Donnie, I'm sorry. Please, I'm sorry. Don't leave us. Please, we need you." My eyes widened and felt a little torn on what to do next. I leaned down and awkwardly placed a kiss on Leo's forehead, hoping it would help.
"Shh, it's okay Leo. Just calm down." I felt Splinter's hands on my shoulder and he gently pushed me away so he could sit in my spot, close to Leo's head. He gently placed an arm around Leo's shoulders and lifted him into a sitting position. Leo tried to fight back but his injured leg was seriously making things worse and he yelled in pain when he tried to kick at Splinter. Splinter hugged Leo close to his side and gently and affectionately rubbed the back of Leo's head.
"It is alright, my son, please do not try to fight us. We are your family and we want to help you." He grabbed his cup of tea and brought it to Leo's lips. "Here, drink this." Leo first tried to move his head from side to side to avoid the cup, but eventually decided to stop fighting and let Splinter help him sip some of the tea without much struggle. And whether it was because chamomile was calming or because of something else, Leo stopped fighting and whimpering and eventually fell back asleep against Splinter's shoulder. He nuzzled his head into the crook of Splinter's neck and buried his face in his fur. Splinter smiled both affectionately and sadly at his son and hugged him close to his chest and I could see a few tears running down his face and disappearing into his fur. I sneaked out of the living room and closed the door behind me, as quietly as I could. I sighed and leaned against the door for a second before slipping back into the kitchen.
With mostly eggs and coffee and tea as fresh food, there was not much we could have for breakfast. I knew I could make some scrambled eggs, but not much else. I would have to take Casey and go shopping later today, but I felt pretty happy about having chickens at this moment. But my mind was still on Leo and his words.
'Donnie, I'm sorry. Please, I'm sorry. Don't leave us. Please, we need you.'
I sighed and poured some salt into the eggs. Poor Leo. I hadn't seen much of Leo since the horrible accident, but since he had come home to me with that photo album, I had gotten the strong indication that he was beating himself up like crazy. Not only for the accident and how he couldn't do anything to help Donnie in that moment, but for feeling like he had neglected Donnie and not showed him how much he really loved him. And now, knowing that the reason that Donnie is gone was because of Karai and her lust for revenge... I sighed and poured the eggs into the frying pan. Poor, poor Leo.
I heard a yawn and looked over my shoulder and saw Mikey standing in the door, stretching his arms over his head and yawning so widely that I almost thought he was gonna dislocate his jaw. I smiled at him and waved.
"Morning, Mikey. How did you sleep?" He walked up to the kitchen table and sat down. He smiled tiredly at me, but he seemed to have his thoughts someplace else.
"Mornin' April! I slept like a baby last night. Well, I would have, if Casey hadn't snored like a chainsaw beside me!" I giggled at him and took some plates out of a cabinet and some utensils out of the silverware drawer.
"Well, I'm glad you managed to sleep at all under those conditions." I scooped some scrambled eggs onto two plates and walked over to Mikey, placed one plate in front of him and the other at the seat in front of him. I sat down and brushed some hair out of my face. Mikey smiled back and grabbed his fork.
"Thanks, April!" He immediately started eating and it went so fast I had a strong feeling that he didn't chew. I shook my head with a small smile and started to eat my own food. After a few minutes of silence, he looked up and looked pretty serious. Well, serious for Mikey, anyway.
"How's Leo doing?" I swallowed some eggs and bit my lip, trying to figure out what to say. I didn't want to sugarcoat it, but I didn't want to scare or discourage him either. Eventually I sighed and looked Mikey straight in the eyes.
"He has a broken leg and his side is bandaged and for now it doesn't look like he has any infections. But he has a high fever and seems to be a bit delusional. He had a pretty bad nightmare not too long ago." Mikey's eyes fell and he looked down at his mostly empty plate. He was clearly upset, so I reached out and placed my hand over his. "But I'm sure he'll be okay. I mean, it's just a fever and a broken leg. He has no internal bleeding or anything like that. He'll bounce back, don't worry." Mikey didn't look up and just kept his eyes down in the plate.
"We're broken, aren't we?" My eyes widened and I gripped his hand in mine.
"No." I paused and looked to the side, admitting, "well, maybe a little." Then I looked down at the table. "Maybe a lot." I sighed and looked up at Mikey. He tried to be strong and keep himself together and I knew he had a lot of emotions that wanted to come out. I gripped his hand a little tighter.
"Mikey, everything is gonna be okay. Leo's tough; he'll pull through. He always does. And I bet we'll take the city back in only a few months. You know, after Leo's wounds heal. But after that, we'll kick the Kraang's butts back to Dimension X, and make them stay there!" Mikey looked up at me with blank eyes for a second, when a new voice suddenly joined the conversation.
"Listen to her, Mikey. She has the right spirit, you know." We both looked up to see Raph, sloppily tying his mask around his face and looking pretty tired. He walked up to us and placed his arm around Mikey's shoulders and rubbed his knuckles against the side of Mikey's head. "We're not gonna take this lying down, are we? We're too tough for that, am I right?" Mikey looked pretty confused for a second as he looked up at Raph, then smirked a little with a raised eyebrow.
"Dude, since when are you the optimistic one? I thought that was my job." Raph smirked back and ruffled Mikey's mask tails.
"Well, if you can joke then you're okay. Come on, bro, get your head out of your shell!" He turned to look at me and folded his arms over his chest. "Left any food for the rest of us? I'm starving!" I pointed over to the stove with my thumb and glared good-naturedly at him.
"Over at the stove, tough guy." Raph walked over to get some food for himself and I got up to get a plate ready for Master Splinter. I had no idea how the guys could still keep their spirit up after having gone through so much in such a little time, but I was happy for that. It meant that they hadn't given up yet, and that warmed my heart. But still, I couldn't help but wonder where we were gonna go from this. Forward I guess, but I had a feeling it wasn't gonna be an easy road for us.
A/N: Okay, this took more time than I had planned it would, but now it's up! And tell me, do you think I should keep writing like this, or do you want the (P.O.V)'s? Personally I like this and I will most likely keep it, and practice writing from no one's P.O.V too, but I'd still like to know what you think.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!